Childhood trauma and genetic factors in familial schizophrenia associated with the NOS1AP gene

Abstract

There is some evidence that childhood adversity may be associated with the expression of schizophrenia but whether genetic risk affects this finding is unknown. We investigated the history of early trauma in 194 subjects from 24 multiply affected families where schizophrenia was previously shown to be associated with a functional allele in the NOS1AP gene. In subjects with schizophrenia (n = 79), only events prior to the onset of psychosis were considered. Generalized estimating equation models that adjusted for familial clustering were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Subjects with narrowly defined schizophrenia were more likely than their unaffected family members to have a history of early trauma (adjusted OR = 4.17, 95% CI = 1.52, 11.44). The results were similar after adjusting for the NOS1AP risk genotype (adjusted OR = 3.57, 95% CI = 1.32, 9.65) and for maternal or paternal history of schizophrenia (adjusted ORs = 3.27, 95% CI = 1.45, 7.38; 4.38, 95% CI = 1.61, 11.91, respectively). The results suggest that childhood trauma is associated with expression of schizophrenia independent of measured genetic susceptibility and may be a candidate for gene-environment research using genetic variants.