Association study of KIBRA gene with memory performance in a Japanese population.
OBJECTIVE
Papassotiropoulos et al. (Science 314: p 475) discovered that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the KIBRA gene (rs17070145) was associated with delayed recall performance in Caucasians. KIBRA is highly expressed in the brain and kidneys, and is reported to be involved in synaptic plasticity. Therefore, we first tried to replicate the association between the SNP and memory performance in a Japanese subjects.


METHODS
We examined the association between the SNP and memory performance measured by the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) in 187 healthy Japanese people.


RESULTS
The T allele carriers had significantly better verbal memory, attention/concentration and delayed recall performance than the C/C carriers (corrected P = 0.044, 0.047 and 0.0084, respectively). Furthermore, the C/T carriers and the T/T carriers had better delayed recall performance than the C/C carriers (post hoc P = 0.0017 and 0.0096).


CONCLUSIONS
This data suggest that the C/C genotype might have an impact on memory performance in Asian populations as well as in Caucasian populations. Further investigation to clarify the association of the KIBRA gene with memory in other ethnic groups is warranted.
The Osaka-Hamamatsu Joint Research Center for Child Mental Development, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
Yuka
Y
Yasuda
Ryota
R
Hashimoto
Kazutaka
K
Ohi
Motoyuki
M
Fukumoto
Hironori
H
Takamura
Naomi
N
Iike
Tetsuhiko
T
Yoshida
Noriyuki
N
Hayashi
Hidetoshi
H
Takahashi
Hidenaga
H
Yamamori
Takashi
T
Morihara
Shinji
S
Tagami
Masayasu
M
Okochi
Toshihisa
T
Tanaka
Takashi
T
Kudo
Kouzin
K
Kamino
Ryohei
R
Ishii
Masao
M
Iwase
Hiroaki
H
Kazui
Masatoshi
M
Takeda
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D001288:Attention; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D006580:Genetic Carrier Screening; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D007564:Japan; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000235:genetics*; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014888:Wechsler Scales; D055815:Young Adult
D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011506:Proteins; C513637:WWC1 protein, human