Positive association between synapsin II and schizophrenia.
BACKGROUND
Synapsin II encodes a neuron-specific phosphoprotein that selectively binds to small synaptic vesicles in the presynaptic nerve terminal. The expressions of messenger ribonucleic acid and protein of synapsin II have been reported to be significantly reduced in the brains of schizophrenia patients. The synapsin II gene is located on 3p25, a region that has been implicated to be associated with schizophrenia by genetic linkage. All these findings suggest synapsin II as a candidate gene for schizophrenia.


METHODS
In this work, we studied four markers (two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): rs308963 and rs795009; and two insertion/deletion polymorphisms: rs2307981 and rs2308169) covering 144.2 kilobase pairs (kb) with an average interval of 38 kb in synapsin II in a sample of 654 schizophrenic patients and 628 normal control subjects to explore the mechanism underlying schizophrenia.


RESULTS
We found significant differences in allele frequency distribution of SNP rs795009 (p =.000018, odds ratio 1.405, 95% confidence interval 1.202-1.641) between patients and control subjects. The T allele was significantly higher in patients than in control subjects. Moreover, the overall frequency of haplotype showed significant differences between patients and control subjects (p <.000001).


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests a positive association between synapsin II and schizophrenia, implying that synapsin II is involved in the etiology of schizophrenia.
Chen
Qi
Q
Bio-X Life Science Research Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
He
Guang
G
Wang
Xiao Yan
XY
Chen
Qing Ying
QY
Liu
Xin Min
XM
Gu
Zhong Zhong
ZZ
Liu
Jie
J
Li
Ke Qing
KQ
Wang
Shi Ji
SJ
Zhu
Shao Ming
SM
Feng
Guo Ying
GY
He
Lin
L
D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016704:Synapsins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
D016704:Synapsins