Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 9, 2026
Rapid In Situ Hybridization using Oligonucleotide Probes on Paraformaldehyde-prefixed Brain of Rats with Serotonin Syndrome
Published on: September 23, 2015
The serotonin transporter gene 5-HTTLPR polymorphism is associated with affective psychoses but not with
Vera Golimbet1, Galina Korovaitseva1, Tatyana Lezheiko1
1Mental Health Research Center, Moscow, Russia.
Background:
Affective syndrome is thought to be a key feature that differentiates schizophrenia from schizoaffective disorder (SA) and bipolar disorder with psychotic features (BDP). However genetic underpinnings of these differences remain unresolved.
Objectives:
We compared clinical variables of affective psychoses (SA, BDP and schizophrenia with affective symptoms (AFF SCZ)) and schizophrenia without affective symptoms (non-AFF SCZ) and searched for a genetic variant that may differentiate affective psychosis from non-AFF SCZ.
Methods:
A total of 2677 subjects, including 831 patients with affective psychosis, 785 patients with non-AFF SCZ and 1061 healthy controls, were used. Clinical symptoms were assessed with the PANSS. The sample was genotyped for 5-HTTLPR polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene.
Results:
The diagnostic groups differed significantly on demographic and clinical variables. The percentage of men was higher, the current age and age at illness onset were lower in non-AFF SCZ and SA compared to AFF SCZ and BDP. The severity of positive and negative symptoms decreased significantly from group to group in the following manner: non-AFF SCZ>AFF SCZ>SA>BDP. There was the association between 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and affective psychosis (p=0.01). The frequency of the SS genotype was higher in the affective psychosis group compared to non-AFF SCZ and controls. No differences in the genotype distribution were identified between the non-AFF SCZ group and controls.
Limitations:
Difficulties in the differentiation between non-AFF SCZ and AFF SCZ or SA and between AFF SCZ and SA due to uncertain diagnostic boundaries between these conditions.
Conclusions:
SA is intermediate between non-AFF SCZ and BDP in the severity of positive and negative symptoms. The first episode patients, carriers of the SS genotype have a higher risk of developing affective psychosis than non-AFF SCZ. This finding carries implications for the prognosis of psychosis outcomes in the first-episode patients.
Related Concept Videos
01:11Pharmacogenetics of Drug Targets: β₂-Adrenergic Receptors, Apo E, Thymidylate Synthase
01:29Pharmacogenetic Phenotypes: Alterations in Pharmacokinetics, Drug Targets and Biologic Milieu
01:28Human Genetics
The complex relationship between genetics and psychology is observable through common biological components such...
01:16Pharmacogenetics of Drug Transporters: P-Glycoprotein and Solute Carrier Transporters
01:27Psychosis: Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
Researchers have identified genetic factors that increase susceptibility to schizophrenia, underscoring the intricate interplay between genetics and environment in disease development. At the core of schizophrenia's pathophysiology is excessive dopaminergic neurotransmission within...
01:29Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia