Potential involvement of NET polymorphism in serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor
response in panic disorder
Sammanfattning
Background: This is a pilot study assessing the impact of polymorphisms of serotonin
transporter (5-HTT; 5-HTTLPR (S/L)) and norepinephrine transporter (NET; rs2242446 (T/C)) genes on
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors
(SNRIs) response in Korean panic disorder (PD) patients. Methods: PD patients were treated with
SSRI (n = 18) or SNRI (n = 6) for 4 weeks. Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) was rated to evaluate
the treatment response. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare PDSS scores before and
after medication (SSRI or SNRI) as well as to compare those according to genotypes. Mann-Whitney
U test was used to compare those between the two groups (SSRI or SNRI). Results: Both SSRI and
SNRI treatments for 4 weeks significantly reduced PDSS scores. We assessed the impact of
rs2242446 on this effect of SSRI and SNRI. The scores were significantly decreased after 4 weeks in
the SSRI-treated group regardless of genotypes of rs2242446, whereas they were significantly
decreased in the SNRI-treated group with only non-C carrier (TT) of rs2242446. On 5-HTTLPR we could
not analyse because 22 patients had SS genotype. Conclusions: These results suggest that NET
polymorphism may affect the SNRI response in Korean PD patients.