The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) in patients diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a Chinese sample of earthquake survivors. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) were performed to type 5-HTTLPR promoter polymorphism in 57 PTSD patients and an equal number of healthy controls. The genotype and allele frequency distribution were analyzed and compared using various statistical methods. The frequency of LL, SL and SS genotypes in patients was found to be 5, 16 and 36 respectively, in comparison to 16, 22 and 19 in healthy controls. Fewer patients tended to be L genotype (22.8%) than controls (47.4%), but the number of patients with the S genotype was higher (77.2%) compared to controls (52.6%). The results show a statistically significant difference in genotype and allele frequency distribution between patients and controls. This research suggests that PTSD symptoms are significantly associated with 5-HTTLPR genetic polymorphism. These results add to the important research of genetics of psychiatric disorders, particularly in a Chinese context that has not been previously studied.
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