An investigation of the 5‐HT2C receptor gene as a migraine candidate gene

Abstract
Migraine is a common complex disorder, currently classified into two main subtypes, migraine with aura (MA) and migraine without aura (MO). The strong preponderance of females to males suggests an X‐linked genetic component. Recent studies have identified an X chromosomal susceptibility region (Xq24–q28) in two typical migraine pedigrees. This region harbours a potential candidate gene for the disorder, the serotonin receptor 2C (5‐HT2C) gene. This study involved a linkage and association approach to investigate two single nucleotide variants in the 5‐HT2C gene. In addition, exonic coding regions of the 5‐HT2C gene were also sequenced for mutations in X‐linked migraine pedigrees. Results of this study did not detect any linkage or association, and no disease causing mutations were identified. Hence, results for this study do not support a significant role of the 5‐HT2C gene in migraine predisposition.