Association between HTR2C gene polymorphisms and the metabolic syndrome in patients using antipsychotics: a replication study.

In two previous studies we found an association between HTR2C polymorphisms and the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in patients using antipsychotics. In this study, we set out to replicate our findings in a third separate sample of patients. Data for this cross-sectional study came from the ongoing Pharmacotherapy Monitoring and Outcome survey study, investigating the association between schizophrenia and metabolic or cardiovascular risk factors. Primary end point was the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome. Primary determinants were two polymorphisms in the HTR2C gene: rs3813929 (-759 C/T) and rs1414334:C>G. Carriership of the variant rs1414334 C-allele was significantly associated with an increase prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (odds ratio (OR) 3.73; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.29-10.79, P=0.015). No association was found between the HTR2C -759 C/T polymorphism and the metabolic syndrome. This study confirms previous findings that the variant C-allele of the rs1414334 polymorphism is associated with the metabolic syndrome.