Background
The study investigated the possible association of NRG3 gene and schizophrenia in a Han Chinese population.
Methods
Of a total of 1345, 270 unrelated schizophrenia inpatients, 235 normal control subjects,
and 280 nuclear families (trios) with schizophrenia probands were studied. Nine single
nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) spanning intron 1 to exon 9 of the NRG3 gene were analyzed, starting with the case-control samples. The SNPs showing significant
association with schizophrenia in the case-control samples were subsequently studied
in the independent trio samples with family-based association analysis.
Results
In case-control samples, two SNPs (rs1937970 and rs677221) showed significant genotypic
and allelic association with schizophrenia (all p < .05) with rs677221-C being the risk allele for schizophrenia (uncorrected p = .001, odds ratio = 1.439, 95% confidence interval = 1.115–1.858). Haplotypes GC
constructed by the two SNPs was also significantly associated with schizophrenia (permutation
p value = .0047). In the independent trio samples, rs1937970-A and rs677221-G consistently
showed significant under-transmission to schizophrenic offspring (unadjusted p = .003 and p = .004, respectively). In the haplotype–transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) for
allelic combination of rs1937970-rs677221, significant under-transmission for haplotype
AG (uncorrected p = .006) and over-transmission for haplotype GC (uncorrected p = .004) to the affected schizophrenia offspring were observed.
Conclusions
The result supports that the NRG3 gene is a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 19, 2008
Accepted:
July 9,
2008
Received in revised form:
July 8,
2008
Received:
April 10,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
