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Common Variants in the TPH2 Promoter Confer Susceptibility to Paranoid Schizophrenia

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Abstract

Serotonergic system-related genes may be good candidates in investigating the genetic basis of schizophrenia. Our previous study suggested that promoter region of tryptophan hydroxylase 2 gene (TPH2) may confer the susceptibility to paranoid schizophrenia. In this study, we investigated whether common variants within TPH2 promoter may predispose to paranoid schizophrenia in Han Chinese. A total of 509 patients who met DSM-IV criteria for paranoid schizophrenia and 510 matched healthy controls were recruited for this study. Five polymorphisms within TPH2 promoter region were tested. No statistically significant differences were found in allele or genotype frequencies between schizophrenic patients and healthy controls. The frequency of the rs4448731T-rs6582071A-rs7963803A-rs4570625T-rs11178997A haplotype was significantly higher in cases compared to the controls (P = 0.003; OR = 1.49; 95% CI, 1.15–1.95). Our results suggest that the common variants within TPH2 promoter are associated with paranoid schizophrenia in Han Chinese. Further studies in larger samples are warranted to elucidate the role of TPH2 in the etiology of paranoid schizophrenia.

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Acknowledgments

We are deeply grateful to all the participants. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81000581and 81171272) and Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau Research Projects of China (2010007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Schizophrenia Program, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 600 Wan Ping Nan Road, Shanghai, 200030, People’s Republic of China

    Zhenghui Yi, Chen Zhang, Weihong Lu, Lisheng Song, Dentang Liu & Yifeng Xu

  2. Division of Mood Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 600 Wan Ping Nan Road, Shanghai, 200030, People’s Republic of China

    Yiru Fang

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  1. Zhenghui Yi
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  2. Chen Zhang
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  3. Weihong Lu
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  4. Lisheng Song
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  5. Dentang Liu
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  6. Yifeng Xu
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  7. Yiru Fang
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Correspondence to Chen Zhang or Yiru Fang.

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Yi, Z., Zhang, C., Lu, W. et al. Common Variants in the TPH2 Promoter Confer Susceptibility to Paranoid Schizophrenia. J Mol Neurosci 47, 465–469 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-012-9725-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-012-9725-5

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