A Serotonin Transporter Gene Promoter Polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) and Prefrontal Cortical Binding in Major Depression and Suicide

Postmortem brain samples from 220 individuals were genotyped for the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism. Binding of 5-HTT was assayed by quantitative autoradiography in the prefrontal cortex of a subset of 159 subjects. Binding to 5-HTT was lower in the ventral prefrontal cortex of suicides compared with nonsuicides & was lower throughout the prefrontal cortex of subjects with a history of major depression. The 5-HTTLPR genotype was associated with major depression but not with suicide or 5-HTT binding. (125 refs.)