title: Seasonality associated with the serotonin 2A receptor -1438 A/G polymorphism.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Seasonal affective disorder and seasonal rhythms in mood and behavior (seasonality) have been reported to be associated with serotonergic system. In this study we investigated the relationship between the serotonin 2A receptor (5HTR2A) -1438 A/G polymorphism and seasonal variation in a young Korean healthy population.
  
  
  METHODS
  297 young Korean medical students were recruited for this study. They were genotyped for the 5HTR2A -1438 A/G polymorphism and evaluated the seasonal variation in mood and behavior by the Seasonality Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Global Seasonality Score of the SPAQ among three genotypes were not different. However, the comparison between seasonals and non-seasonals showed significant difference in the genotype distribution. The winter-type seasonals showed a significantly higher frequency of the 5HTR2A -1438 A allele compared with non-seasonals (chi2 = 6.80, p = 0.009; OR = 1.79; 95% CI, 1.15-2.78).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that the 5HTR2A -1438 A/G polymorphism is possibly related to seasonality in the Korean population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Anam Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Anam-Dong, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 136-705, Korea.
authors.forename: Heon-Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seung-Mo
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Se-Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Jong-Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.lastname: Leen Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D000483:Alleles; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A / Q000235:genetics*; D016574:Seasonal Affective Disorder / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A