Association of a serotonin receptor 2A gene polymorphism with cognitive functions in patients with schizophrenia

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the T102C polymorphism on the 5HT2A gene and cognitive function as well as clinical manifestations in patients with schizophrenia. Eighty-two outpatients with schizophrenia participated in this study. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) was used to assess the severity of each patient's symptoms. In order to evaluate their short-term attention capacity, a Digit Span Test was used. The Continuous Performance Test (CPT) was used to test the sustained attention span of each of the subjects. Cognitive flexibility was measured with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). The polymorphism of the 5-HT2A gene at codon 102 (T/C) was genotyped by sequence specific polymerase chain reaction. The T allele at codon 102 correlated with a lower hit rate and more commission errors in the CPT and patients with the heterogeneous genotype (TC) had more commission errors than those who were of homogeneous type (CC or TT). Patients with the TC genotype also had significantly fewer correct responses in the WCST compared to those who were type CC or TT. No relationship was found to exist between the C allele and cognitive variables. There was also no relationship established between the codon 102 polymorphism and clinical parameters. These findings suggest that the TC genotype might be related to certain cognitive impairments in patients with schizophrenia.