Abstract
To determine if neuregulin 1 (NRG1) is associated with schizophrenia in Asian populations, we investigated a Han Chinese population using both a family trio design and a case-control design. A total of 25 microsatellite markers and single nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNPs) were genotyped spanning the 1.1Mb NRG1 gene including markers of a seven-marker haplotype at the 5'end of the gene found to be in excess in Icelandic and Scottish schizophrenia patients. The alleles of the individual markers forming the seven marker at-risk haplotype are not likely to be causative as they are not in excess in patients in the Chinese population studied here. However using unrelated patients, we find a novel haplotype (HAP(China) (1)), immediately upstream of the Icelandic haplotype, in excess in patients (11.9% in patients vs 4.2% in controls; P = 0.0000065, risk ratio (rr) 3.1), which was not significant when parental controls were used. Another haplotype ( HAP(China) (2)) overlapping the Icelandic risk haplotype was found in excess in the Chinese (8.5% of patients vs 4.0% of unrelated controls; P = 0.003, rr 2.2) and was also significant using parental controls only (P = 0.0047, rr 2.1). A four-marker haplotype at the 30 end of the NRG1 gene, HAP(China) (3), was found at a frequency of 23.8% in patients and 13.7% in nontransmitted parental haplotypes (P = 0.000042, rr 2.0) but was not significant in the case-control comparison. We conclude that different haplotypes within the boundaries of the NRG1 gene may be associated with schizophrenia in the Han Chinese.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 698 - 704 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Molecular Psychiatry |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 2004 |