Variants in neurotrophic factor genes and schizophrenic psychoses: no associations in a Spanish population

Possible associations between schizophrenic psychoses, a ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) null mutation and a neurotrophin 3 (NT3) bi-allele polymorphism were investigated in a Spanish population. The sample consisted of 107 patients suffering from schizophrenic psychoses and 100 healthy volunteer...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychiatry research 1997-06, Vol.71 (1), p.1-5
Main Authors: Thome, Johannes, Durany, Nuria, Palomo, Antonio, Foley, Paul, Harsányi, Alexander, Baumer, Alessandra, Hashimoto, Eri, Cruz-Sánchez, Felix F, Riederer, Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor
Female
Genetic Variation - genetics
Genetics
Genotype
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Mutation
Nerve Growth Factors - genetics
Nerve Tissue Proteins - genetics
Neural development
Neurotrophic factors
Neurotrophin 3
Polymorphism, Genetic
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychoses
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - genetics
Spain
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Possible associations between schizophrenic psychoses, a ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) null mutation and a neurotrophin 3 (NT3) bi-allele polymorphism were investigated in a Spanish population. The sample consisted of 107 patients suffering from schizophrenic psychoses and 100 healthy volunteers. There was no statistical difference in the frequencies of the mutant CNTF allele in the index and control groups (0.125 vs. 0.121). The frequency of the rare NT3 allele (Glu) was very low and similar in both groups (0.005). Previous findings supporting the involvement of these genetic markers in the pathogenesis of schizophrenic psychoses were thus not confirmed. In light of neurodevelopmental hypotheses of schizophrenia, however, genes coding for neurotrophic factors remain interesting susceptibility loci in schizophrenia research. Subsequent studies should not focus exclusively on genetic alterations but also take into account secondary changes of the neurotrophic factor system at the mRNA and protein levels. Further, the current unsatisfying operationalized classification of the heterogeneous syndrome `schizophrenia' remains a crucial problem that could be partially resolved by introducing more differentiated diagnoses defined on the basis of neurobiological criteria. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.
ISSN:0165-1781
1872-7123
DOI:10.1016/S0165-1781(97)00035-8