Association Study of 5-HT2A Receptor Gene Polymorphism with Persistent Somatoform Pain Disorder and the Efficacy of Fluoxetine

Abstract

To analyze the association between the 5- HT2A receptor gene polymorphism and persistent somatoform pain disorder in Chinese, and to investigate the relationship between the analgesic efficacy of fluoxetine and 5-HT2A receptor gene polymorphism. 51 patients with persistent somatoform pain disorder were administered with fluoxetine(20 mg/day) for 6 weeks. The response to fluoxetine was assessed by the Medical Outcomes Study Pain Measures (MOSPM). The patients were divided into two groups (responders and non-responders) according to the MOSPM response rate. The T102C polymorphism genotype and allele frequencies of 5-HT2A receptor gene in these 51 patients and 60 healthy controls were detected with PCR-RFLP technique. 1. No significant association was found between persistent somatoform pain disorder and 5-HT2A receptor gene T102C polymorphism. 2. In responders group, number of patients with C/C genotype and C allele frequency was significantly higher than that of non-responder group, while the frequency of T/T genotype and T allele was vice versa (p<0.05). It indicated that the T102C polymorphism of the 5- HT2A receptor gene was not significant factor associated with persistent somatoform pain disorder, but it may be one predictor of the analgesic efficacy of some SSRIs treatment.