ABCA7 Gene Expression and Genetic Association Study in Schizophrenia

Network-based analysis on the genes and their interactions reveals link between schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a heterogeneous psychiatric disorder marked by impaired thinking, emotions, and behaviors. Studies have suggested a strong connection between SCZ and Alzheimer's disease (AD), however, controversies exist and the underlying mechanisms linking these two disorders remain largely unknown. Therefore, systematic studies of SCZ- and AD-related genes will provide valuable insights into the molecular features of these two diseases and their comorbidities. In this study, we obtained 331 SCZ-related genes, 650 AD-related genes, 65 shared genes between SCZ and AD. Enrichment analysis shown that these 65 shared genes were mainly involved in cognition, neural development, synaptic transmission, drug reactions, metabolic processes and immune related processes, suggesting a complex mechanism for the co-existence of SCZ and AD. In addition, we performed pathway enrichment analysis and found a total of 57 common pathways between SCZ and AD, which could be largely grouped into three modules: immune module, neurodevelopment module and cancer module. We eventually identified the potential disease-related genes whose interactions provide clues to the overlapping symptoms between SCZ and AD.

ABCA7 rs3764650 Polymorphism is Associated with Delayed Neurocognitive Recovery

Background

Several studies have shown that ATP-binding cassette transporter A7 (ABCA7) gene variation is associated with cognitive impairment. This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between ABCA7 rs3764650 polymorphism and perioperative neurocognitive disorder (pNCD).

Methods

A total of 132 elderly patients aged 65 and over who underwent elective non-cardiac surgery were enrolled in the study, while 28 healthy volunteers matching age and sex were recruited as the control group. A battery of neuropsychological tests was conducted 1 day before, 7 days, and 3 months after surgeries. Delayed neurocognitive recovery (dNCR) and postoperative mild or major neurocognitive disorder (POCD) were determined using the Z value method. The venous blood sample of the surgical patients was taken before the operation. Genotyping of rs3764650 was performed using polymerase chain reaction amplification and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.

Results

The incidences of dNCR and POCD were 29.7% and 16.8% at 7 days and 3 months after surgery, respectively. The G allele frequency and GG frequency of dNCR patients were significantly higher than that of non-dNCR patients (43.3% vs 28.2%, P=0.035; 23.3% vs 4.2%, P=0.013, respectively) at 7 days following surgery. No significant differences in ABCA7 alleles between POCD and non-POCD patients were observed 3 months postoperatively.

Conclusion

ABCA7 rs3764650 gene polymorphism is associated with dNCR and GG genotype might be a predisposing factor for postoperative cognitive impairment in Chinese Han elderly populations.

Positive association between PTN polymorphisms and schizophrenia in Northeast Chinese Han population

As a severely and highly heritable psychotic disorder, schizophrenia has become a serious public health problem in modern society. Pleiotrophin (PTN) is a secreted cell cytokine associated with the extracellular matrix and acts as a growth factor. PTN is mainly expressed in neuroectodermal and mesodermal tissues, indicating its effect in neuron migration and epithelium-mesenchyme interactions. Whereas PTN is associated with some neurodegenerative diseases and has modulating effects on them. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between PTN polymorphisms and schizophrenia in an independent case-control sample-set including 738 schizophrenia patients and 1085 healthy controls. Of the 13 selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), five showed significant differences in allele or/and genotype frequencies between patients and controls: rs3959914 (genotype: χ = 11.5217, P = 0.0032); rs11765480 (genotype: χ = 10.6620, P = 0.0049); rs1473355 (genotype: χ = 8.3902, P = 0.0151); rs322246 (allele: χ = 5.5954, P = 0.0180); rs322240 (genotype: χ = 8.8429, P = 0.0121; allele: χ = 8.7802, P = 0.0031). The haplotype analysis of the selected SNPs showed different haplotype frequencies for one block (rs322240, rs322246) between cases and controls (global: χ = 9.0290, P = 0.0110; A-G: χ = 8.985, P = 0.0027; C-A: χ = 5.814, P = 0.0159). Our present results indicate PTN as a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia.