Association study of ZNF804A gene polymorphism rs7597593 with schizophrenia and working memory

Abstract

Objective To assess the association between rs7597593 polymorphism of ZNF804A gene and schizophrenia, and to assess the relationship between rs7597593 polymorphism and working memory. Methods Schizophrenia patients and healthy controls were diagnosed in accordance with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- Fourth Edition (DSM-IV); 767 schizophrenia patients and 690 healthy controls were involved. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was carried out to genotype rs7597593 polymorphism. The cognitive function of working memory was assessed by the N-back task. Statistical analyses were carried out with SPSS19.0 software. Results The study found no significantly different genotype frequencies(χ2=1.519, P=0.468) and allele frequencies(χ2=1.263, P=0.261) of rs7597593 polymorphism between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls, however in the subgroup of higher IQ (IQ≥110), there were significant different distributions of both genotype and allele (χ2=9.411 and 6.529; P=0.009 and 0.011 respectively). It was also found in this subgroup that risk T allele was associated with more error at 1-back task (F=6.854, P=0.009). Conclusion These results indicated that rs7597593 polymorphism was associated with individuals having spared cognitive function; carriers of T allele had worse cognitive function, which maybe a pathway that it contributes to schizophrenia. Key words: ZNF804A gene; rs7597593 polymorphism; Schizophrenia; Cognitive function