Is there a Link Between Anxiety , Depressive Disorders and 5 HT 2 A Receptor Gene Polymorphism ? – Study from A Conflict Area , India-controlled Kashmir

BACKGROUND: 5 HT-2A receptor gene polymorphisms are associated with various psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression. However, no study has investigated 5HT 2A gene polymorphisms in anxiety and depression in a distressed society such as a conflict area. To study 5HT-2A -1438 A/G single nucleotide polymorphism in depression and anxiety disorders in India-controlled Kashmir. METHODS: Thirty patients with depression disorders, 31 patients with anxiety disorders, and 40 unrelated healthy volunteers (controls) were studied in a casecontrol study design. Polymorphism was determined using polymerase chain reaction and agarose gel electrophoresis after digestion with the restriction enzyme MspI. Genotypes and allele frequencies were compared using chi square and Fischer’s exact tests, and p value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The mean±standard deviation of age for the anxiety, depression and control groups was 33.5±11.7, 32.4 ± 9.9 and 29.7 ± 10.1 respectively and was not statistically significant (p= 0.32). In the anxiety group, GG genotype (41.9 %) was significantly more prevalent (p= 0.045) than the control group (17.5%). Similarly, depression group had higher prevalence of GG genotype (50%) (p=0.004) than the control group (17.5%). Comparison of allelic frequencies found a statistically significant excess of G allele in the depressive group (68.3%) as compared with the control group (36.2%) (P ≤0.0001, OR=3.8 (1.9 to 7.7). CONCLUSION: In a conflict area, we found that the -1438 A/G single nucleotide polymorphism in the promoter region of 5HT-2A gene was associated with anxiety and depressive disorders. Our findings confirm the role of this locus in psychiatric disorders and further show that the association remains robust in a distressed society. Conflict of Interest: None declared This article has been peer reviewed. Article Submitted on: 18 November 2013 Article Accepted on: 16 May 2014 Funding Sources: None Declared Correspondence to: Dr Raheel Mushtaq Address: Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College, Srinagar, Kashmir, India Email: shahraheel786@gmail.co m Cite this article: Mushtaq R, Shoib S, Bashir H, Dar MM, Shah T, Mushtaq S.Is there a link between anxiety, depressive disorders and 5HT2A Receptor gene polymorphism? Study from a conflict area, IndiaControlled Kashmir. J Pioneer Med Sci. 2014; 4(3):132-136 decades [4]. 5HT2A receptor is the main excitatory G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) of 5HT and mediates it action via G protein q (Gq) through phospholipase C (PLC) and protein kinase C (PKC), leading to the release of calcium [4]. 5HT2A receptor gene is located on chromosome 13q14-q21 and is widely expressed in most 5HT terminals in CNS as well as in megakaryocytes/platelets and monocytes [4, 5]. Studies have suggested that -1438 A/G single nucleotide polymorphism is associated with psychiatric disorders, especially anxiety and INTRODUCTION Anxiety and depressive disorders result from a complex interaction between an individual’s genetic endowment and environmental factors [1, 2]. The influence of environment is difficult to evaluate in a genetic association study and is usually a confounding factor [3]. Molecular cloning has identified 7 major types of 5hyrdoxytryptamine (5HT) receptors [4] and the roles of these receptors in psychiatric disorders have gained prominence over the last two