Impact of IL-1 receptor antagonist gene polymorphism on schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
OBJECTIVE
Variable levels of cytokines were observed in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and an especially high level of interleukin-1 (IL-1) was detected in schizophrenia patients. It is known that IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) binds to IL-1 receptors and inhibits the receptor binding of IL-1alpha and IL-1beta.


METHODS
In this study, the association between the variable number of tandem repeats polymorphism of the IL-1RA gene and schizophrenia (n=269) and bipolar disorder (n=83) was investigated.


RESULTS
The genotype distribution and allele frequency were significantly different between schizophrenic patients and the control group (P<0.05); however, there were no prominent differences between bipolar patients and the control group. The carriage rate for the IL1RN*2 allele was associated with higher risk of schizophrenia (odds ratio=2.24).


CONCLUSIONS
This study indicates that IL-1RA could be a candidate gene for susceptibility to schizophrenia.
Kim
S J
SJ
School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
H J
HJ
Koo
H G
HG
Kim
J W
JW
Song
J Y
JY
Kim
M K
MK
Shin
D H
DH
Jin
S Y
SY
Hong
M S
MS
Park
H J
HJ
Yoon
S H
SH
Park
H K
HK
Chung
J-H
JH
D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D053590:Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist Protein; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D012795:Sialoglycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*
C507763:IL1RN protein, human; D053590:Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist Protein; D012795:Sialoglycoproteins