Meta-analysis of association between the-1438A/G (rs6311) polymorphism of the serotonin 2A receptor gene and major depressive disorder

Objectives: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a severe psychiatric disorder with a lifetime prevalence of approximately 10-15%. Previous pharmacological studies suggested that the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HTR2A) was one of the major pharmacological therapeutic targets for MDD. Recently, genetic studies investigated the association between the polymorphism rs6311 of the 5-HTR2A gene and MDD. However, the results of these studies were inconsistent. To evaluate these conflicting findings, we performed the current meta-analysis. Methods: Eleven articles form PubMed and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were selected including 1491 patients and 2937 controls for the meta-analysis through assessing in detail. All statistical analyses were performed by RevMan (v.5.1) program. Results: No significant association between the 5-HTR2A gene SNP rs6311 and the risk of MDD was observed by four genetic models in the current meta-analysis (P=0.12 for A versus G; P=0.11 for AA versus GG; P=0.06 for AA + AG versus GG; P=0.24 for AG + GG versus AA). The calculated generalized odds ratio also revealed that the SNP rs6311 did not confer an increased risk to MDD. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis indicated that the result of meta-analysis is instable. Conclusions: Although the current meta-analysis indicated that the SNP rs6311 within the 5-HTR2A gene may be not associated with an increased risk for MDD, the results require further study to acquire more direct evidence.