Claims for Patent: 5,589,331

Summary for Patent: 5,589,331

Title:	Method for detecting abnormal serotonergic function
Abstract:	A method of detecting abnormal serotonergic function in an impulsive human subject is disclosed. The method comprises detecting an L allele of a gene encoding tryptophan hydroxylase. The invention also includes an isolated nucleic acid having a sequence specific to an L allele of a gene encoding tryptophan hydroxylase. The nucleic acid may migrate in a denaturing gel at the same rate as a second nucleic acid specific to a corresponding region of a U allele of a gene encoding tryptophan hydroxylase, and migrate in a nondenaturing gel at a rate about 1.02 times the migration rate of the second nucleic acid.
Inventor(s):	Nielsen; David A. (Kensington, MD), Goldman; David (Potomac, MD), Linnoila; Markku (Bethesda, MD), Virkkunen; Matti (Helsinki, FI)
Assignee:	The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health (Washington, DC)
Application Number:	08/125,628
Patent Claims:	1. A method of detecting abnormal serotonergic function in an impulsive human subject, the method comprising: providing a nucleic acid sample from the human subject; detecting the presence or absence of an L allele of the gene encoding tryptophan hydroxylase in the sample, wherein detecting the presence of the L allele detects abnormal serotonergic function in the impulsive human subject. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the L allele is in a homozygous state. 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the L allele is detected using a polymerase chain reaction. 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the polymerase chain reaction uses primers that hybridize to the same nucleic acid sequence as an oligonucleotide selected from the group that consists of: HTHSSCP4: 5'-TTCAGATCCCTTCTATACCCCAGAG-3' (Seq. ID No.:3) HTHSSCP5: 5'-GGACATGACCTAAGAGTTCATGGCA-3' (Seq. ID No.:4). 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the L allele is detected by single strand conformation polymorphism analysis. 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the L allele is associated with a polymorphism within an intron of the gene encoding tryptophan hydroxylase. 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the intron corresponds to intron 7 of the mouse gene encoding tryptophan hydroxylase. 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the abnormal serotonergic function is suicidal behavior. 9. The method of claim 7 wherein the polymorphism is correlated with suicidal behavior. 10. An isolated nucleic acid consisting of a subsequence of the L allele of the gene encoding tryptophan hydroxylase, wherein the subsequence is SEQ. ID No:8. 11. The nucleic acid of claim 10 wherein the nucleic acid is obtained by polymerase chain reaction amplification of a nucleic acid sample from an impulsive subject. 12. A nucleic acid of claim 10 wherein the subsequence of the L allele comprises an intron. 13. A nucleic acid of claim 12 wherein the intron corresponds to intron 7 of the mouse gene encoding tryptophan hydroxylase.

Details for Patent 5,589,331

Applicant	Tradename	Biologic Ingredient	Dosage Form	BLA	Approval Date	Patent No.	Expiredate
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	INTRON A	interferon alfa-2b	For Injection	103132	06/04/1986		2013-12-31
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	INTRON A	interferon alfa-2b	For Injection	103132			2013-12-31
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	INTRON A	interferon alfa-2b	Injection	103132			2013-12-31