Dual association of a TRKA polymorphism with schizophrenia.
Authors:
Van Schijndel, JE Van Zweeden, M Van Loo, KM Djurovic, S Andreassen, OA Hansen, T Werge, T Nyegaard, M Sorensen, KM Nordentoft, M Mortensen, PB Mors, O Borglum, AD Del-Favero, J Norrback, KF Adolfsson, R De Hert, M Claes, S Cichon, S Rietschel, M Nothen, MM Kallunki, P Pedersen, JT Martens, GJ
Citation:
Van Schijndel JE, etal., Psychiatr Genet. 2011 Jun;21(3):125-31.
OBJECTIVE: An interaction between predisposing genes and environmental stressors is thought to underlie the neurodevelopmental disorder schizophrenia. In a targeted gene screening, we previously found that the minor allele of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs6336 in the neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor 1 (NTRK1/TRKA) gene is associated with schizophrenia as a risk factor. METHODS: We genotyped the TRKA SNP in a total of eight independent Caucasian schizophrenia case-control groups. RESULT: Remarkably, although in five of the groups a higher frequency of the risk allele was indeed found in the patients compared with the controls, in the three other groups the SNP acted as a protective factor. CONCLUSION: An intriguing possibility is that this dual character of the TRKA SNP is caused by its interaction with endophenotypic and/or epistatic factors.