Association study of the estrogen receptor polymorphisms with tardive dyskinesia in schizophrenia

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is an involuntary movement disorder induced by long-term antipsychotic treatments. Estrogen is suggested to modulate dopamine receptors in the central nervous system and may decrease the incidence and/or relieve the symptoms of TD. In this study, 118 schizophrenia patients with antipsychotic-induced TD and 128 sex- and age-matched non-TD schizophrenia patients were recruited. All patients were assessed by the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale and genotyped for the polymorphisms of estrogen receptor-alpha gene (ESR 1). There was a marginal association of the genotypes determined by PVU II between TD and non-TD patients (p = 0.057), but not of the genotypes determined by XBA I (p = 0.896). However, further studies on other polymorphisms of ESR 1 or other estrogen receptors are necessary to clarify the role of estrogen in the pathogenesis of TD.