Effects of the Interaction of Variants of the Serotonin Transporter and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor on Platelet Serotonin Levels in Stroke Patients

Polymorphisms in two genes, i.e., the serotonin transporter and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, were studied in 47 patients with ischemic stroke. Platelet serotonin content was found to differ in carriers of different genetic variants. The lowest serotonin contents were found in patients with the LL*ValVal variant and the highest in those with the LL genotype and genotypes containing at least one copy of the Met allele. Genetic variants were not found to have any modulatory influences on the relationship between platelet serotonin content during the acute phase of stroke and the development of affective or anxiety disorders by the patients.