Genetic association study and meta-analysis of the HTR2C Cys23Ser polymorphism and migraine

The objectives of this study were to determine if the HTR2C Cys23Ser polymorphism is associated with migraine in a case-control study, and to perform a meta-analysis with present and previous available studies. The HTR2C gene is located at the Xq24-q28 chromosomal band. This band was linked to migraine with aura (MA) in two Australian families. Using the HTR2C Cys23Ser allelic variant, this gene has been ruled out as a migraine gene in 3 out of 4 studies. Only the Japanese study reported a higher risk for MA (OR = 6.11; 95% CI = 1.70-21.97, p trend < 0.01). We performed a case-control study with 335 migraine subjects and 335 sex-and age-matched controls, and a meta-analysis pooling the results of the available data from MA subsets of patients. In the association study we found no significant differences among migraine and MA patients for this polymorphism. In the meta-analysis, under the fixed-effect model, the Ser allele did not confer higher risk for suffering MA (pooled OR = 1.1; 99% CI = 0.8-1.5, p = 0.499). Our study did not confirm the HTR2C Cys23Ser polymorphism as a risk factor for migraine and MA.