IIUM Press, International Islamic University Malaysia
Abstract
Schizophrenia (Sz) affect about 21 million people worldwide. This disorder alters
perception, thoughts, affect and behaviour. Serotonin (5-Hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) is
a monoamine neurotransmitter which has been hypothesized to be abnormal in
schizophrenia. The solute carrier family 6 member 4 (SLC6A4) gene and serotonin
receptor 2A (HTR2A) gene are among the important genes within the serotonergic
system-related genes family. The SLC6A4 gene encode for serotonin transporter
(SERT) which regulates the synaptic concentration of serotonin by transporting
serotonin molecules back to the pre-synaptic neuron while the HTR2A gene is another
gene that encode for the serotonin receptor subtype 2A. Studies done previously failed
to produce consistent result for specific locus of schizohrenia susceptibilit
