title: Association analysis of COMT polymorphisms and schizophrenia in a Chinese Han population: a case-control study.
abstract: Schizophrenia is a common disease with complex mode of inheritance; great efforts have been made to identify the susceptible genes. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene has long been considered as a candidate gene mainly because of two reasons: First, it encodes a key dopamine catabolic enzyme. Second, it maps to the velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) region of chromosome 22q11, which is associated with schizophrenia predisposition. Numerous case-control and family-based studies have been conducted, majority of them focused on a functional Val/Met polymorphism (rs4680). Unfortunately, these studies have produced conflicting results. In a previous report, Shifman et al. found a three-marker haplotype (rs737865-rs4680-rs165599) that showed significant association with schizophrenia. In this study, we try to replicate their findings in Chinese Han population and failed to find any associations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, and Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Cell Biology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Xian-Ning
authors.initials: XN
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiao-Xiao
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Shi-Ping
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Ji-Cheng
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase