Association between serotonin transporter gene polymorphism and chronic fatigue syndrome

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2003 Nov 14;311(2):264-6. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2003.09.207.

Abstract

Interaction between the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis and the serotonergic system is thought to be disrupted in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients. We examined a serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene promoter polymorphism, which affects the transcriptional efficiency of 5-HTT, in 78 CFS patients using PCR amplification of the blood genomic DNA. A significant increase of longer (L and XL) alleic variants was found in the CFS patients compared to the controls both by the genotype-wise and the allele-wise analyses (both p<0.05, by chi(2) test and Fisher's exact test). Attenuated concentration of extracellular serotonin due to longer variants may cause higher susceptibility to CFS.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Controlled Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Carrier Proteins / genetics*
  • Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / genetics*
  • Female
  • Gene Frequency / genetics
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Membrane Glycoproteins / genetics*
  • Membrane Transport Proteins*
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins*
  • Polymorphism, Genetic / genetics*
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic / genetics*
  • Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins

Substances

  • Carrier Proteins
  • Membrane Glycoproteins
  • Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • SLC6A4 protein, human
  • Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins