Mary Ann Liebert, Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers, 9(16), p. 1138-1141
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Aims: Genetics play a major role in the etiology of schizophrenia (SZ). Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is one of the promising candidate genes for SZ. A nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs4680, causing a Valine (Val) to Methionine (Met) substitution, has been widely studied in relation to psychiatric phenotypes, including SZ, but with conflicting results. We conducted a two-stage study to examine the association of COMT polymorphisms with SZ in the Han Chinese population. Results: Association analysis of nine SNPs in 768 patients and 1348 controls failed to detect any positive markers or haplotypes. Then, we tested rs4680 in a validation sample of 963 patients and 992 controls, and no significant association was observed, but the cases significantly deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (p=5.7e-4). There was no association of rs4680 with SZ in the combined sample (n=4071, p=0.110, odds ratio=1.08). Conclusions: Our results do not support the association of COMT with SZ in the Han Chinese population.