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Immunoglobulin G genotypes and the risk of schizophrenia

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Abstract

Genes of the immune system are relevant to the etiology of schizophrenia. However, to our knowledge, no large-scale studies, using molecular methods, have been undertaken to investigate the role of highly polymorphic immunoglobulin GM (γ marker) genes in this disorder. In this investigation, we aimed to determine whether particular GM genotypes were associated with susceptibility to schizophrenia. Using a matched case–control study design, we analyzed DNA samples from 798 subjects—398 patients with schizophrenia and 400 controls—obtained from the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health Repository. GM alleles were determined by the TaqMan® genotyping assay. The GM 3/3; 23−/23− genotype was highly significantly associated with susceptibility to schizophrenia (p = 0.0002). Subjects with this genotype were over three times (OR 3.4; 95 % CI 1.7–6.7) as likely to develop schizophrenia as those without this genotype. Our results show that immunoglobulin GM genes are risk factors for the development of schizophrenia. Since GM alleles have been implicated in gluten sensitivity and in immunity to neurotropic viruses associated with cognitive impairment, the results presented here may help unify these two disparate areas of pathology affected in this disorder.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the National Institute of Mental Health Repository and its personnel for providing the DNA samples. We are highly grateful to the investigators who provided the specimens to the Repository. This work was supported in part by the NIH Grant MH104613 and by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant NRF-2014S1A2A2028559.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA

    Janardan P. Pandey & Aryan M. Namboodiri

  2. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Robert C. Elston

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  1. Janardan P. Pandey
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  2. Aryan M. Namboodiri
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  3. Robert C. Elston
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Correspondence to Janardan P. Pandey.

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Pandey, J.P., Namboodiri, A.M. & Elston, R.C. Immunoglobulin G genotypes and the risk of schizophrenia. Hum Genet 135, 1175–1179 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00439-016-1706-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00439-016-1706-2

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