Impact of the AHI1 gene on the vulnerability to schizophrenia: a case-control association study.
BACKGROUND
The Abelson helper integration-1 (AHI1) gene is required for both cerebellar and cortical development in humans. While the accelerated evolution of AHI1 in the human lineage indicates a role in cognitive (dys)function, a linkage scan in large pedigrees identified AHI1 as a positional candidate for schizophrenia. To further investigate the contribution of AHI1 to the susceptibility of schizophrenia, we evaluated the effect of AHI1 variation on the vulnerability to psychosis in two samples from Spain and Germany.


RESULTS
29 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in a genomic region including the AHI1 gene were genotyped in two samples from Spain (280 patients with psychotic disorders; 348 controls) and Germany (247 patients with schizophrenic disorders; 360 controls). Allelic, genotypic and haplotype frequencies were compared between cases and controls in both samples separately, as well as in the combined sample. The effect of genotype on several psychopathological measures (BPRS, KGV, PANSS) assessed in a Spanish subsample was also evaluated. We found several significant associations in the Spanish sample. Particularly, rs7750586 and rs911507, both located upstream of the AHI1 coding region, were found to be associated with schizophrenia in the analysis of genotypic (p = 0.0033, and 0.031, respectively) and allelic frequencies (p = 0.001 in both cases). Moreover, several other risk and protective haplotypes were detected (0.006<p<0.036). Joint analysis also supported the association of rs7750586 and rs911507 with the risk for schizophrenia. The analysis of clinical measures also revealed an effect on symptom severity (minimum P value = 0.0037).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data support, in agreement with previous reports, an effect of AHI1 variation on the susceptibility to schizophrenia in central and southern European populations.
Rivero
Olga
O
Unit of Molecular Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. RiveroMar_O@klinik.uni-wuerzburg.de
Reif
Andreas
A
Sanjuán
Julio
J
Moltó
María D
MD
Kittel-Schneider
Sarah
S
Nájera
Carmen
C
Töpner
Theresia
T
Lesch
Klaus-Peter
KP
D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / Q000235:genetics*; D033942:Adaptor Proteins, Vesicular Transport; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
C487178:AHI1 protein, human; D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D033942:Adaptor Proteins, Vesicular Transport
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