ASSESSMENT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF SEROTONIN TRANSPORTER GENE (5-HTTVNTR & 5-HTTLPR) POLYMORPHISM IN PATIENTS WITH FIBROMYALGIA SYNDROME.

The aim: To study the clinical and the genetic association of 5-HTTVNTR and the 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms in women with FMS. Materials and methods: 105 FMS patients and 105 controls were enrolled in the study. Polymerase chain method was used to analyse the 5-HTTLPR & 5-HTTVNTR gene polymorphism. The psychopathology status of the 105 FMS patients and 105 healthy controls was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) questionnaires. Results: In FMS patients and controls, the 10/10, 10/12, and 12/12 genotypes of the 5-HTTVNTR polymorphism were found in 3.8% and 2.9%, 20% and 15.2%, and 76.28% and 81.90%, respectively. Additionally, the L/L, S/L, and S/S genotypes of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism were found in 4.8% and 2.9%, 36.2% and 40%, 59% and 57.1%, in FMS patients and healthy controls, respectively. There were no significant differences in the frequency of genotypes between FMS patients and controls. There were no significant differences in the BDI and the SCL-90-R scores according to the serotonin transporter genotypes. Conclusions: We found no significant difference between 5-HTT gene polymorphism (5-HTTVNTR and 5-HTTLPR) and the psychiatric test results (P>0.05) in FMS patients. Hence, we conclude that serotonin gene polymorphism (5-HTTLPR & 5-HTTVNTR) is not associated with FMS in north Indian women. Our results suggests that the serotonin transporter polymorphism does not seem to be a susceptibility factor for FMS.