A polymorphism of the norepinephrine transporter gene in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia: lack of association.

Norepinephrine is one of the neurotransmitters which has been implicated in the pathogenesis of mood disorders and schizophrenia. The norepinephrine transporter (NET) gene may be a candidate gene for the study of the genetics of these disorders. In this study, 198 patients with schizophrenia and 100 patients with bipolar disorder were analysed for a silent mutation 1287 A/G, located in the coding region (exon 9) of the NET gene, to determine the association between this polymorphism of the NET gene and bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. No association was found between the studied polymorphism of the NET gene and either bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel