Serotonergic polymorphisms in patients suffering from alcoholism, anxiety disorders and narcolepsy

1. Alterations in the serotonergic neurotransmission have been frequently d escribed for patients suffering from alcoholism, anxiety disorders and narc olepsy. 2. The authors tested for association of the 5-HT2A receptor polymorphism ( T102C) and the intron 7 tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) polymorphism (A218C) a mong 176 alcohol dependent patients, 35 patients with panic disorder, 50 pa tients with generalized anxiety disorder, 55 patients with narcolepsy and 8 7 healthy controls. 3. Allele and genotype frequencies of the 5-HT2A receptor polymorphism (T10 2C), the intron 7 TPH polymorphism (A218C) were almost similar between the patients suffering from alcohol dependence, panic disorder, generalized anx iety disorder and narcolepsy. 4. There was no association between the 5-HT2A receptor polymorphism (T102C ), the intron7 TPH (A218C) polymorphisms and alcohol dependence, panic diso rder, generalized anxiety disorder and narcolepsy in our subsets of German patients.