The glycine transporter 1 gene (GLYT1) is associated with methamphetamine-use disorder

Glycine transporter (GlyT)-1 plays a pivotal role in maintaining the glycine level at the glutamatergic synapse. Glycine is an allosteric agonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Because activation of NMDA receptors is an essential step for induction of methamphetamine dependence and psychosis, differences in the functioning of GlyT-1 due to genetic variants of the GlyT-1 gene (GLYT1) may influence susceptibility. A case-control genetic association study of the GLYT1 gene examined 204 patients with methamphetamine-use disorder and 210 healthy controls. We examined three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), SNP1, IVS3 + 411C > T, rs2486001; SNP2, 1056G > A, rs2248829; and SNP3, IVS11 + 22G > A, rs2248632, of the GLYT1 gene and found that SNP1 showed a significant association in both genotype (P = 0.0086) and allele (P = 0.0019) with methamphetamine-use disorder. The T-G haplotype at SNP1 and SNP2 was a significant risk factor for the disorder (P = 0.000039, odds ratio: 2.04). The present findings indicate that genetic variation of the GLYT1 gene may contribute to individual vulnerability to methamphetamine dependence and psychosis.