Association analysis of the -308G>A promoter polymorphism of the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) gene in Japanese patients with schizophrenia.
Two research groups have thus far reported a significant association between schizophrenia and a promoter polymorphism (-308G > A) of the gene encoding tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), while contradictive negative results have also been reported. We examined the possible association in a Japanese sample of 297 schizophrenia cases and 458 controls. Allele frequencies of both the patients and controls were very low (1.5% and 0.8%, respectively), and the difference was not statistically significant. We conclude that the effect of the -308G > A polymorphism on the development of schizophrenia is, if any, weak and the majority of Japanese schizophrenics are unrelated to the -308G > A polymorphism of the TNF-alpha gene.
Hashimoto
R
R
Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan. rhashimo@ncnp.go.jp
Yoshida
M
M
Ozaki
N
N
Yamanouchi
Y
Y
Iwata
N
N
Suzuki
T
T
Kitajima
T
T
Tatsumi
M
M
Kamijima
K
K
Kunugi
H
H
D000225:Adenine; D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006147:Guanine; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*
D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D006147:Guanine; D000225:Adenine