Serotonin transporter polymorphism and harm avoidance personality in chronic tension-type headache.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the 5-HTT-gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) genotypes and harm avoidance (HA) dimension in chronic tension-type headache (CTH).


BACKGROUND
Serotonin transporter protein (5-HTT) is a key modulating protein in synaptic serotonergic neurotransmission. Among serotonin gene-linked polymorphism, promoter located in the regulatory region of the 5-HTTLPR has two alleles (short and long) with different transcriptional efficiencies. The HA personality trait may be heritable and associated with serotonergic neurotransmitter activity.


METHODS
We amplified the 5-HTTLPR by means of polymerase chain reaction and performed genotype polymorphism analyses and we investigated the serotonin-related personality trait by evaluating the HA dimension in tridimensional personality questionnaire (TPQ) in 107 patients with CTH and in 100 healthy controls.


RESULTS
We found an excess frequency of the short allele and a different genotype distribution in patients with CTH. S/S genotype frequency was significantly higher in patients with CTH (76%) than in those with controls (59%; P=.02). Patients with CTH had significantly higher HA scores (21.4+/6.3) than controls (16.3+/-6.1).


CONCLUSIONS
This suggests a serotonergic activity might be involved in the development of CTH and 5-HTTLPR might be one of the genetically contributing factors.
Park
Jeong Wook
JW
Department of Neurology, Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Kim
Joong Seok
JS
Lee
Hae Kook
HK
Kim
Yeong In
YI
Lee
Kwang Soo
KS
D000483:Alleles; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006801:Humans; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D010551:Personality; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*
D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins