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Sex differences in schizophrenia: a longitudinal methylome analysis

  • Psychiatry and Preclinical Psychiatric Studies - Original Article
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Abstract

DNA methylation analysis at the genome-wide level is a useful tool to explore potential sex differences in SCZ patients. The primary aim of the current study was to identify differentially methylated regions of DNA between males and females with schizophrenia. We collected DNA samples from 134 schizophrenia patients to measure genome-wide methylation at single-base resolution in 96 males and 38 females. We further repeated the analysis in 13 subjects (9 females, 4 males) to confirm the sex differences and to reduce the effect of potential confounders. The longitudinal methylation analysis found significant replication of several genes across the genome. These genes included RFTN1, TLE1, DAZL, PRR4, UTP14C, RNU12, and LOC644649. The overall results showed robust association between autosomal CpG sites and sex. Longitudinal methylation analysis can be used as internal replication to confirm epigenetic variants that are stable over time.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Vincenzo De Luca is supported by a Miner’s Lamp Award from the Department of Psychiatry at University of Toronto. Christopher Adanty is supported by the Canada Graduate Scholarship Master’s Award from the Canadian Institute for Health Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, 250 College St, Toronto, M5T1R8, Canada

    Christopher Adanty, Jessica Qian, Nzaar Al-Chalabi, Ali Bani Fatemi, Philip Gerretsen, Ariel Graff & Vincenzo De Luca

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  1. Christopher Adanty
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  2. Jessica Qian
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  3. Nzaar Al-Chalabi
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  4. Ali Bani Fatemi
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  5. Philip Gerretsen
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  6. Ariel Graff
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  7. Vincenzo De Luca
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Correspondence to Vincenzo De Luca.

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Adanty, C., Qian, J., Al-Chalabi, N. et al. Sex differences in schizophrenia: a longitudinal methylome analysis. J Neural Transm 129, 105–114 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-021-02439-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-021-02439-4

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