Association and interaction analyses of NRG1 and ERBB4 genes with schizophrenia in a Japanese population

J Hum Genet. 2008;53(10):929-935. doi: 10.1007/s10038-008-0332-9. Epub 2008 Aug 14.

Abstract

Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) is one of the most promising candidate genes for schizophrenia. A number of replication studies have been conducted, although the results were inconsistent and no susceptible variant has yet been identified. The inconsistency might be attributed to the ethnic difference in allele and haplotype frequencies. However, it is equally possible that one or more genes interacting with NRG1 may also be implicated in schizophrenia and attribute to the inconsistency. To test the hypothesis, we conducted an interaction analysis between NRG1 and one of its receptor's (ERBB4) polymorphisms as well as the association analysis of the two genes associated with schizophrenia in Japanese. We observed no significant difference between patients and controls in allele frequencies or genotypic distributions of the 18 polymorphisms of the genes. The permutation test showed no significant differences in estimated haplotype frequencies between patients and controls, including the haplotype HAP(ICE). In the interaction analysis, significant interaction was observed between rs2919381 in NRG1 and rs7560730 in ERBB4 (P = 0.047, corrected). Thus, our results suggest the possibility that interaction between variants in NRG1 and ERBB4 might contribute to susceptibility for schizophrenia in a Japanese population. Further investigation may be necessary to confirm our results.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Alleles
  • Asian People / genetics*
  • Case-Control Studies
  • ErbB Receptors / genetics*
  • Female
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease / genetics*
  • Haplotypes
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / genetics*
  • Neuregulin-1
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
  • Receptor, ErbB-4
  • Schizophrenia / genetics*
  • Schizophrenia / pathology

Substances

  • NRG1 protein, human
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Neuregulin-1
  • ERBB4 protein, human
  • ErbB Receptors
  • Receptor, ErbB-4