title: No association between the Bcl2-interacting killer (BIK) gene and schizophrenia.
abstract: The Bcl2-interacting killer (BIK) gene interacts with cellular and viral survival-promoting proteins, such as Bcl-2, to enhance apoptosis. The BIK protein promotes cell death in a manner analogous to Bcl-2-related death-promoting proteins, Bax and Bak. There have been lower Bcl-2 levels and increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in the temporal cortex of patients with schizophrenia compared with those in controls. Because the death-promoting activity of BIK was suppressed in the presence of the cellular and viral survival-promoting proteins, the BIK protein is suggested as a likely target for antiapoptotic proteins. The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between genetic variants in the BIK gene and schizophrenia in a large Japanese population (1181 patients with schizophrenia and 1243 healthy controls). We found nominal evidence for association of alleles, rs926328 (chi2=4.44, p=0.035, odds ratio=1.13) and rs2235316 (chi2=4.41, p=0.036, odds ratio=1.13), with schizophrenia. However, these associations were no longer positive after correction for multiple testing (rs926328: corrected p=0.105, rs2235316: corrected p=0.108). We conclude that BIK might not play a major role in the susceptibility of schizophrenia in Japanese population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazutaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohi
authors.forename: Ryota
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: Hidenaga
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamamori
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Saitoh
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tatsumi
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Nakao
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ozaki
authors.forename: Kunitoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamijima
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kunugi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D044466:Asian People; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; C096820:BIK protein, human; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins