Gender-Specific Associations between CHGB Genetic Variants and Schizophrenia in a Korean Population.
OBJECTIVE
Schizophrenia is a devastating mental disorder and is known to be affected by genetic factors. The chromogranin B (CHGB), a member of the chromogranin gene family, has been proposed as a candidate gene associated with the risk of schizophrenia. The secretory pathway for peptide hormones and neuropeptides in the brain is regulated by chromogranin proteins. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential associations between genetic variants of CHGB and schizophrenia susceptibility.


METHODS
In the current study, 15 single nucleotide polymorphisms of CHGB were genotyped in 310 schizophrenia patients and 604 healthy controls.


RESULTS
Statistical analysis revealed that two genetic variants (non-synonymous rs910122; rs2821 in 3'-untranslated region) were associated with schizophrenia [minimum p=0.002; odds ratio (OR)=0.72], even after correction for multiple testing (p(corr)=0.02). Since schizophrenia is known to be differentially expressed between sexes, additional analysis for sex was performed. As a result, these two genetic variants (rs910122 and rs2821) and a haplotype (ht3) showed significant associations with schizophrenia in male subjects (p(corr)=0.02; OR=0.64), whereas the significance disappeared in female subjects (p>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Although this study has limitations including a small number of samples and lack of functional study, our results suggest that genetic variants of CHGB may have sex-specific effects on the risk of schizophrenia and provide useful preliminary information for further study.
Department of Life Science, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea.|Research Institute for Basic Science, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea.
Joong Gon
JG
Shin
Research Institute for Basic Science, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea.
Jeong Hyun
JH
Kim
Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea.
Chul Soo
CS
Park
Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea.
Bong Jo
BJ
Kim
Division of Life Science, Research Institute of Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea.
Jae Won
JW
Kim
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Hallym University Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
Ihn Geun
IG
Choi
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Soonchunhyang University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
Jaeuk
J
Hwang
Department of Life Science, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea.|Research Institute for Basic Science, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea.|Department of Genetic Epidemiology, SNP Genetics, Inc., Seoul, Korea. hdshin@sogang.ac.kr.
Hyoung Doo
HD
Shin
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Soonchunhyang University Hospital, Seoul, Korea. siwoo@schmc.ac.kr.
Sung Il
SI
Woo
D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D053378:Chromogranin B / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D012737:Sex Factors
D053378:Chromogranin B; D005819:Genetic Markers
Single nucleotide polymorphisms; chromogranin B; gender-specific marker; schizophrenia