Association study of the dopamine and serotonin transporter genetic polymorphisms and methamphetamine abuse in Chinese males

The dopamine transporter (DAT) and the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) play important roles in methamphetamine (METH) dependence because they are the target of METH action. For this study, the association between the DAT and 5-HTT polymorphisms and METH dependence were investigated for a Chinese-male sample population. The investigated polymorphisms included those of the DAT 3'-variable number tandem repeat, the 5-HTT gene promoter and a 5-HTT variable number tandem repeat polymorphisms. No significant difference was demonstrated for genotype or allele frequency, when comparing METH dependent and control cases for the DAT and the 5-HTT polymorphisms. The findings of this study suggest that these polymorphisms do not play major roles in METH dependence in the Chinese-male population.