T102C polymorphism of serotonin 2A type receptor gene confers susceptibility to (early onset) schizophrenia in Han Chinese: an association study and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Several lines of evidence have indicated that serotonin 2A receptor (HTR2A) may be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. One functional polymorphism in HTR2A (T102C) has been widely investigated; however, the results have been inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between HTR2A T02C polymorphism and schizophrenia in a Chinese Han population.
METHODS: We performed a case-control study, using an early onset sample, which may be an attractive subgroup for genetic studies. In addition, we performed a meta-analysis of the combined sample groups in Han Chinese.
RESULTS: Our study, based on 385 schizophrenic patients and 399 controls, found a significant genotype-wise association of T102C and schizophrenia (P = 0.02). After applying stratified analyses, the dominant model for T allele produced significant association (OR = 1.60, 95%CI = 1.11-2.30, P = 0.01). In the meta-analysis including all of the published population-based association studies in Han Chinese and the present association study, the pooled genotype-wise result in a dominant model was statistically significant with a summary OR of 1.25 (95%CI = 1.04-1.50, P = 0.02). DISCUSSION: Our results suggest that the HTR2A T102C polymorphism may confer susceptibility to schizophrenia in Han Chinese.