title: Possible association between interleukin-1β gene and schizophrenia in a Japanese population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several lines of evidence have implicated the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) in the etiology of schizophrenia. Although a number of genetic association studies have been reported, very few have systematically examined gene-wide tagging polymorphisms.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 533 patients with schizophrenia (302 males: mean age ± standard deviation 43.4 ± 13.0 years; 233 females; mean age 44.8 ± 15.3 years) and 1136 healthy controls (388 males: mean age 44.6 ± 17.3 years; 748 females; 46.3 ± 15.6 years) were recruited for this study. All subjects were biologically unrelated Japanese individuals. Five tagging polymorphisms of IL-1β gene (rs2853550, rs1143634, rs1143633, rs1143630, rs16944) were examined for association with schizophrenia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant difference in allele distribution was found between patients with schizophrenia and controls for rs1143633 (P = 0.0089). When the analysis was performed separately in each gender, significant difference between patients and controls in allele distribution of rs1143633 was observed in females (P = 0.0073). A trend towards association was also found between rs16944 and female patients with schizophrenia (P = 0.032).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study shows the first evidence that the IL-1β gene polymorphism rs1143633 is associated with schizophrenia susceptibility in a Japanese population. The results suggest the possibility that the influence of IL-1β gene variations on susceptibility to schizophrenia may be greater in females than in males. Findings of the present study provide further support for the role of IL-1β in the etiology of schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, 187-8502, Japan. sasayama@shinshu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Daimei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sasayama
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: Toshiya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Teraishi
authors.forename: Kotaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: Miho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ota
authors.forename: Yoshimi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iijima
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tatsumi
authors.forename: Teruhiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: Naoji
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kunugi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies / Q000379:methods; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D053583:Interleukin-1beta