1.
Association between rs1344706 of ZNF804A and schizophrenia: a meta-analysis.
Zhu, M, Liu, T, Zhang, J, Jia, S, Tang, W, Luo, Y
Genomics, proteomics & bioinformatics. 2014;(6):292-6
Abstract
Schizophrenia is one of the most serious mental diseases found in humans. Previous studies indicated that the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1344706 in the gene ZNF804A encoding zinc finger protein 804A was associated with schizophrenia in Caucasian population but not in Chinese Han population. However, current results are conflicting in Asian population. In the present study, a meta-analysis was performed to revisit the association between rs1344706 and the risk of schizophrenia in Asian, Caucasian and other populations. Electronic search of PubMed database identified 25 case-control studies with available genotype frequencies of rs1344706 for the meta-analysis, involving a total of 15,788 cases and 22,654 controls. A pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to assess the association. The current meta-analysis showed an association between rs1344706 and schizophrenia in Caucasian populations (P=0.028, OR=1.138, 95% CI: 1.014-1.278; P=0.004 for heterogeneity) and Asian populations (P=0.008, OR=1.092, 95% CI: 1.023-1.165; P=0.001 for heterogeneity), but not in other populations (P=0.286, OR=1.209, 95% CI: 0.853-1.714, P=0.120 for heterogeneity). Egger's test (P>0.05) and Begg's test (P>0.05) are both suggestive of the lack of publication bias for the included studies. Thus, the absence of association in other populations suggests a genetic heterogeneity in the susceptibility of schizophrenia and demonstrates the difficulties in replicating genome-wide association study findings regarding schizophrenia across different ethnic populations. To validate the association between rs1344706 and schizophrenia, further studies with larger participant populations worldwide are needed.
2.
Mutation screening of the HDC gene in Chinese Han patients with Tourette syndrome.
Lei, J, Deng, X, Zhang, J, Su, L, Xu, H, Liang, H, Huang, X, Song, Z, Deng, H
American journal of medical genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric genetics : the official publication of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics. 2012;(1):72-6
Abstract
Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by vocal and motor tics. While environmental causes have been proposed to play a role, genetic factors are believed to be the main determinants of the disorder and its clinical manifestations. Recently, a heterozygous W317X mutation in the histidine decarboxylase gene (HDC) was reported to be responsible for TS in a two-generation pedigree. To investigate whether the HDC gene play a role in TS in Chinese Han population, we performed genetic analysis of the coding region of the HDC gene in 100 Chinese Han patients with TS. Three variants were found including a C > T transition (IVS1 + 52C > T), a novel C > A transition (c.426C > A) in exon 4, and a novel G > A transition (c.1743G > A) in exon 12, both predicted with no amino acid change. Extended analysis was conducted in a total of 120 TS patients and 240 sex, age, and ethnicity matched healthy controls. No significant differences in genotypic and allele distribution between patients and controls for these three variants (P = 0.274, P = 1.000 and P = 0.632 for genotypic distribution, respectively; P = 0.143, P = 1.000 and P = 0.582 for allele distribution, respectively) were observed, suggesting variants in the HDC gene may play little or no role in TS susceptibility in Chinese Han population.