Study of polymorphic variants of the serotonin 2A receptor gene (5-HT2A) and its possible effects on smoking habits of a population from northeastern Brazil.

Previous studies have revealed a genetic component, including genetic polymorphisms in the serotonergic pathway, particularly in the serotonin receptor gene (5-HT2A). The aim of this study was to investigate associations of the T102C (rs6313) and A-1438G (rs6311) polymorphisms with tobacco use in a population from northeastern Brazil. We evaluated these polymorphisms in 135 nonsmokers and 135 smokers using polymerase chain reaction-restricted fragment length polymorphism. The distribution of allele and genotype frequencies and associations of polymorphisms with smoking were assessed with the chi-squared (χ(2)) test, the Fisher exact test, and odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). There were no differences in the distribution of genotype and allele frequencies between nonsmokers and smokers for A-1438G (P = 0.80) and T102C (P = 0.35). However, these polymorphisms were significantly associated with habit frequency (A/G: P = 0.02, OR = 6.87, 95%CI = 1.23-38.31, P = 0.04; A/G+G/G: P = 0.04, OR = 3.67, 95%CI = 1.06-12.75, P = 0.07), age of onset (C/C: P = 0.02, OR = 3.26, 95%CI = 1.17-9.07, P = 0.03, and nicotine dependence level (A/G: P = 0.02, OR = 3.28, 95%CI = 1.17-9.18, P = 0.04; A/G+G/G: P = 0.04, OR = 2.81, 95%CI = 1.13-6.99, P = 0.04; T/C: P = 0.03, OR = 3.12, 95%CI = 1.13-8.57, P = 0.04; T/C+C/C: P = 0.02, OR = 3.06, 95%CI = 1.22-7.70, P = 0.02). Therefore, these polymorphisms may not contribute significantly to smoking initiation, they do appear to be associated with habit maintenance.