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CACNA1C, schizophrenia and major depressive disorder in the Han Chinese population

Kuanjun He1, Zhiguo An, Qingzhong Wang

  • 1Kuanjun He, PhD, Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (Ministry of Education), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai and College of Life Science, Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities, Tongliao, Inner Mongolia; Zhiguo An, MS, Department of Psychiatry, the First Teaching Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi; Qingzhong Wang, PhD, Tao Li, PhD, Zhiqiang Li, PhD, Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (Ministry of Education), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai; Jianhua Chen, PhD, Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (Ministry of Education), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai and Schizophrenia Program, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai; Wenjin Li, PhD, Ti Wang, PhD, Jue Ji, BM, Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (Ministry of Education), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai and College of Life Science, Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities, Tongliao, Inner Mongolia; Guoyin Feng, BM, Schizophrenia Program, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai; He Lin, PhD, Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (Ministry of Education), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai; Qizhong Yi, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, the First Teaching Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi; Yongyong Shi, PhD, Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (Ministry of Education), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai and Institute of Neuropsychiatric Science and Systems Biological Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic

The British Journal of Psychiatry : the Journal of Mental Science
|November 23, 2013
PubMed

Insights

The CACNA1C gene is a risk factor for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder in the Han Chinese population. Genetic variations in CACNA1C are linked to increased susceptibility to these psychiatric conditions.

Area of Science:

  • Genetics
  • Psychiatry
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Common psychiatric disorders exhibit high heritability, suggesting significant genetic contributions to their etiology.
  • The CACNA1C gene, encoding the alpha-1C subunit of the Cav1.2 L-type calcium channel, is a recognized shared risk gene for various mental disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if the CACNA1C gene acts as a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder.
  • To investigate the role of CACNA1C in the Han Chinese population.

Main Methods:

  • A case-control study was conducted involving 1235 schizophrenia patients, 1045 major depressive disorder patients, and 1235 healthy controls.
  • Genotyping was performed on a tag single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1006737 and 10 additional tag SNPs within the CACNA1C gene across all participants.

Main Results:

  • The SNP rs1006737 showed a significant association with schizophrenia (P(allele) = 0.0014, P(genotype) = 0.006, OR = 1.384).
  • The same SNP rs1006737 was also significantly associated with major depressive disorder (P(allele) = 0.0007, P(genotype) = 0.003, OR = 1.425).

Conclusions:

  • The findings indicate that CACNA1C is a risk gene for schizophrenia in the Han Chinese population.
  • The study supports CACNA1C as a susceptibility gene for major depressive disorder in this population as well.
Abstract

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