The 5-HT2A receptor gene 102T/C polymorphism is associated with suicidal behavior in depressed patients

Several lines of evidence suggest that genetic factors constitute an import ant determinant of suicidal behavior. A significant association between the 5-HT2A-C allele and suicidality has recently been reported. The aim of thi s study was to investigate whether the proposed association between 5-HT2A- 102T/C polymorphism and suicidality could be replicated in a larger and ind ependent sample of Spanish patients with major depression. The 102T/C polym orphism of the 5-HT2A receptor gene was analyzed in 159 patients with major depression (DSM-IV criteria) and 164 unrelated and healthy controls using a case control design. All individuals were subjects of Spanish origin. Sig nificant differences in allele (chi-square = 4.13, df = 1, P = 0.04) and ge notype (chi-square = 6.19, df = 2, P = 0.04) distributions were found betwe en non-suicide attempters and suicide attempters. Moreover, those patients carrying 5-HT2A-C allele had more than five times the risk for attempting s uicide than noncarriers (OR = 5.50, 95% CI = 1.18-35.20, P = 0.01). Our res ults replicate the proposed association between 5HT(2A)-C allele and suicid ality in major depression. Moreover, no overall associations are detected w hen patients with major depression and controls are compared for 102T/C fre quencies, suggesting that the increased risk for suicidality conferred by 5 -HT2A-C allele is primarily associated with suicidal behavior and not with the diagnosis of major depression itself. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.