Association of neurotrophin-3 gene variant with severe forms of schizophrenia.
The recent possible neurodevelopmental etiology of schizophrenia makes neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) gene an interesting candidate locus for molecular study of schizophrenia. We searched DNA variants through the coding region and the AP-1 binding site of the NT-3 gene, and found three variants. One is a missense mutation, Gly-63-->Glu-63 (GGG-->GAG), and the others are silent mutations. None of them have been associated with schizophrenia. However, a significant difference was found in the distribution of the variant, Gly-63-->Glu-63, between 61 patients and 101 controls, when the patients were restricted to severe cases based on the neurodevelopmental perspective. Individuals homozygous or heterozygous for the allele Glu-63 had a 2.595-fold increased risk of severe forms of schizophrenia.
Hattori
M
M
Department of Psychiatry, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Nanko
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D020933:Neurotrophin 3; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics*
D017931:DNA Primers; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D020933:Neurotrophin 3