Analysis of the -1438 G/A polymorphism of the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor gene in bulimia nervosa patients with or without a history of anorexia nervosa.

A single nucleotide polymorphism (-1438 G/A) located 1438 base pairs upstream of the consensus start site of the 5-HT2A receptor gene has been reported. The hypothesis that this gene polymorphism may be a susceptibility factor in bulimia nervosa was explored in a female population of purgative bulimics. Bulimia nervosa patients who have suffered preceding anorexia nervosa episodes formed the so-called previous anorexia nervosa bulimic patient group. At variance with some previous reports, when the frequency distribution of genotypes and alleles was compared in patients and controls, no differences were detected regardless of whether the bulimia nervosa patients had suffered prior anorexia nervosa episodes.

Polymorphisms within the promoter and the intron 2 of the serotonin transporter gene in a population of bulimic patients.

The serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene is a firm candidate to explain eating disorders. In this association study, two different polymorphisms were analysed: a variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism in intron 2 and a deletion/insertion polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) in the promoter region. The hypothesis that these gene polymorphisms may be a susceptibility factor in bulimia nervosa (BN) was explored in a female population of 102 purgative bulimics. BN patients who have suffered preceding anorexia nervosa (AN) episodes formed the so-called previous AN bulimic patient group. In our sample of normal-eater controls and purging type bulimics, regardless of whether or not the BN patients had suffered prior AN episodes, no differences were found considering the frequencies of genotypes, alleles or haplotypes of both polymorphic regions of the 5-HTT gene.