Serotonin transporter gene polymorphism in Chinese patients with poststroke depression: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We sought to compare the distribution of the serotonin transporter gene SLC6A4 polymorphism between depressed and nondepressed poststroke patients. METHODS Patients with cerebral stroke admitted to hospital during a 1-year period were enrolled in a 1:1 case-control study. All cases and controls were genotyped for polymorphism of the serotonin transporter-linked promoter region and the single-nucleotide polymorphism rs25531. RESULTS Among 367 patients with cerebral stroke, 57 (15.5%) were diagnosed with poststroke depression at 1 month after stroke. In the patients with poststroke depression, 7 genotypes of the serotonin transporter gene SLC6A4 were detected, and the frequency of S/S homozygotes was significantly higher (P=0.049) than that in controls. CONCLUSIONS S/S homozygosity may be positively associated with the occurrence of poststroke depression in Chinese patients.