title: No association between neuregulin 1 and psychotic symptoms in Alzheimer's disease patients.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients commonly suffer from behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Variants within the neuregulin-1 (NRG1) gene have been investigated both in early onset psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and recently in AD patients with psychosis. In this study, we analyzed NRG1 variants in AD patients with and without psychosis. Our large cohort of 399 probable AD patients had longitudinal information on the BPSD, which was used to dichotomize patients into whether they had ever suffered from psychotic symptoms within the study period. The NRG1 single nucleotide polymorphisms rs3924999, rs35753505 (SNP8NRG221533) and the microsatellites 478B14-848 and 420M9-1395 were investigated for association with psychosis using genotype, allele, and haplotype analyses. No associations were found between any of these variants or haplotypic combinations with delusions, hallucinations, psychosis, or elation/mania in our cohort. Positive associations with polymorphisms and haplotype combinations of NRG1 have been reported in psychiatric disorders. One previous study found an association with psychosis in AD, with a SNP outside the haplotype block first reported for association with schizophrenia. We found no association with any of these variants in our cohort. Further investigations of this region on chromosome 8 are clearly required, with replication in different large longitudinal cohorts.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Psychiatry Group, Institute of Biomedical Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Middle
authors.forename: Antonia L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Pritchard
authors.forename: Herlina
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Handoko
authors.forename: Sayeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haque
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Holder
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bentham
authors.forename: Corinne L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lendon
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D020890:Neuregulin-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C094131:NRG1 protein, human; D020890:Neuregulin-1