1. ¹Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
2. ²Department of Psychiatry, Martin-Luther-University, Halle, Halle/Saale, Germany

Correspondence: Dr P Zill, Department of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Hospital of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Nussbaumstr. 7, D-80336 Munich, Germany. Tel: +49 89 51602741, Fax: +49 89 51604741, E-mail: Peter.Zill@med.uni-muenchen.de

Received 11 April 2006; Revised 19 October 2006; Accepted 27 November 2006; Published online 24 January 2007.

Abstract

Several lines of evidence indicate that disturbances of the central serotonergic system are involved in the pathophysiology of alcohol dependence and suicidal behavior. Recent studies have indicated that a newly identified second isoform of the tryptophan hydroxylase gene (TPH2) is preferentially involved in the rate limiting synthesis of neuronal serotonin. Genetic variations in the TPH2 gene have been associated with an increased risk for major depression and suicidal behavior. We performed single SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism), linkage disequilibrium and haplotype studies on 353 alcohol-dependent patients of whom 102 individuals had a history of at least one suicide attempt and 305 healthy controls with 20 SNPs covering the entire gene region of TPH2. Neither single SNP-, nor haplotype analysis could detect significant associations with alcohol dependence and/or suicidal behavior among alcohol-dependent patients. One major haplotype block of strong linkage disequilibrium between introns 5 and 8 of the TPH2 gene has been found in alcoholics and controls, which is in concordance with recent reports. In conclusion, our results suggest that single SNPs, respectively, haplotypes of the TPH2 gene are unlikely to play a major role in the pathophysiology of alcohol dependence or the alcoholism-related phenotype suicidal behavior. Further analysis are needed to confirm these results.