HOMER1 promoter analysis in Parkinson's disease: association study with psychotic symptoms.
OBJECTIVE
HOMER1 gene expression has been linked to abnormal movements in animals receiving chronic administration of antipsychotics. The continuing neurodegeneration of Parkinson's disease (PD) and the prolonged use of L-dopa are associated with motor complications, such as dyskinesia, and psychotic side effects, including hallucinations and paranoid delusions. Approximately 25-40% of patients with idiopathic PD experience hallucinations. Genetic variability within different candidate genes has been implicated in the clinical severity of sporadic PD in many populations.


METHODS
We investigated 3 polymorphisms located in the 5' flanking region of the HOMER1 gene within a sample of 131 sporadic PD patients from southern Italy, using a 3-SNP genotype and haplotype combination (rs4704559, rs10942891, rs4704560).


RESULTS
Our study implicates the effects of allele A of the rs4704559 marker in susceptibility to psychotic symptoms in PD (chi2 = 8.092, 1 d.f., p = 0.004).


CONCLUSIONS
Even though our results are preliminary, this HOMER1 gene variant may represent a biomarker for side effect evaluation in PD patients.
De Luca
Vincenzo
V
Department of Neuroscience and Behavioural Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, Naples, Italy.
Annesi
Grazia
G
De Marco
E Valeria
EV
de Bartolomeis
Andrea
A
Nicoletti
Giuseppe
G
Pugliese
Pierfrancesco
P
Muscettola
Giovanni
G
Barone
Paolo
P
Quattrone
Aldo
A
D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000235:genetics*; D006239:Haplotypes; D000072233:Homer Scaffolding Proteins; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D002352:Carrier Proteins; C000606614:HOMER1 protein, human; D000072233:Homer Scaffolding Proteins