¹Yu's Psychiatric Clinic, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC

²Division of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

³Department of Psychiatry, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

⁴Kai-Suan Psychiatric Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC

Correspondence to: C-J Hong, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, No. 201, Shih-Pai Road, Sec. 2, 11217, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. E-mail: cjhong@vghtpe.gov.tw

The serotonin transporter (5-HTT) is the site of primary action for the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Previous Western reports have demonstrated that the lallele of the 5-HTT gene-linked polymorphic-region (5-HTTLPR) polymorphism is associated with better SSRI antidepressive effects than the s allele, however, another study of a Korean population has produced a contrasting finding. The present study tested the hypothesis that the 5-HTTLPR genetic polymorphism is associated with SSRI antidepressant response by evaluating total and cluster depressive symptoms for 121 Chinese patients diagnosed with major depression. Analysis of the results reveals that patients with the l/l genotype had a significantly better response to SSRI (fluoxetine) when compared with s allele carriers, as evaluated on the basis of total (P = 0.013), core (P = 0.011), and psychic-anxiety (P = 0.005) and somatic-anxiety (P = 0.002) Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-score percentage change. Our findings confirm reports that the l allele is associated with better SSRI response.

Molecular Psychiatry (2002) 7, 1115-1119. doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001141

major depressive disorders; polymorphism; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; serotonin transporter; treatment response