The role of 5-HTTLPR polymorphism in antidepressant-associated mania in bipolar disorder.

Background: The occurrence of mania during antidepressant treatment is a key issue in the clinical management of bipolar disorder (BD). The serotonin transporter gene is a candidate to be associated with antidepressant-associated mania (AAM) in some patients. This gene has a polymorphism within the promoter region (5-HTTLPR) with two allelic forms, the long (L) and the short (S) variants.