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Dual association of a TRKA polymorphism with schizophrenia
Jessica E Van Schijndel1, Martine Van Zweeden, Karen M J Van Loo
1Department of Molecular Animal Physiology, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Neuroscience and Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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.
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