Background
Serine racemase (SRR) is a brain-enriched enzyme that converts l-serine to d-serine, which acts as an endogenous ligand of N-methyl d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Dysfunction of SRR may reduce the function of NMDA receptors
and susceptibility to schizophrenia.
Methods
We genotyped three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the 5′ region of the
SRR gene in 525 patients with schizophrenia and 524 healthy controls. Effects of SNPs
on the promoter activity and on serum levels of total and d-serine were examined.
Results
We found a significant excess of the IVS1a+465C allele of the SRR gene in schizophrenia,
especially in the paranoid subtype (p = .0028). A reporter assay showed that the IVS1a+465C
allele had 60% lower promoter activity than did the IVS1a+465G allele.
Conclusions
The IVS1a+465C allele of the SRR gene, which reduces expression of the gene, is a
risk factor for schizophrenia, especially the paranoid subtype.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 30, 2006
Accepted:
July 19,
2006
Received in revised form:
July 11,
2006
Received:
May 23,
2006
Identification
Copyright
© 2007 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
