PITX3 polymorphism is not associated with Parkinson's disease in a Chinese population

Several studies have indicated that three PITX3 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs2281983, rs4919621 and rs3758549, are likely to be associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) in Caucasians. Some studies also suggested an age-of-onset effect. We recently reported that allele and genotype frequencies did not differ between late-onset PD (LOPD) patients and controls for all three SNPs. To extend the analysis to early-onset PD (EOPD) patients, and to test whether an age-of-onset effect exists in Chinese, we genotyped these SNPs in 290 Chinese EOPD patients using a ligase detection reaction (LDR). For all three SNPs, allele and genotype frequencies did not differ between total PD patients and controls, between LOPD patients and controls, between EOPD patients and controls, or between LOPD and EOPD patients. Our results suggest that these PITX3 SNPs do not contribute to the risk of developing PD in EOPD or LOPD in Chinese.