The serotonin transporter 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and treatment response to nicotine patch: Follow-up of a randomized controlled trial

In this follow-up of a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial of nicotine replacement transdermal patch for smoking cessation, 741 smokers of European ancestry who were randomized to receive active patch or placebo patch were genotyped for the serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region. The study setting was a primary care research network in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. The primary outcome measures were biochemically verified sustained abstinence from cigarette smoking at end of treatment and 24-week follow-up. The main effect of genotype was not associated with sustained abstinence from smoking at either end of treatment (SL: p=.33; SS: p=.81) or 24-week follow-up (SL: p=.05; SS: p=.21), and we found no evidence for a genotype x treatment interaction effect. In summary, despite the theoretically important contribution of serotonin neurotransmission to smoking cessation, the serotonin transporter gene was not associated with treatment response to nicotine patch for smoking cessation in this primary care-based trial.