Association between psychiatric hospitalizations of patients with schizophrenia and polygenic risk scores based on genes with altered expression by antipsychotics.

OBJECTIVE: To test whether a schizophrenia polygenic risk score (PRS) based on the subset of polymorphisms that affect brain expression of genes with altered expression by antipsychotics (exprAP PRS) is associated with psychiatric readmission of patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: The study involved 427 patients with schizophrenia. Genes with altered expression by antipsychotics were extracted from the Comparative Toxigenomics Database. ExprAP PRS was estimated using the clumping and thresholding (p < 0.05) method. Two additional PRS were tested based on subsets of exprAP polymorphisms whose schizophrenia risk allele has the same (unrestored PRS) or opposite (restored PRS) direction of effect on gene expression than antipsychotics. A general SCZ PRS was tested for comparison. Logistic and ordinal regression were used to test for association of each PRS with ever readmission and admission history, an outcome based on length and number of admissions, respectively. Webgestalt was used for Gene Ontology enrichment analysis. RESULTS: ExprAP PRS was associated with ever readmission (OR = 1.48, 95%CI:1.10-1.97) and admission history (OR = 1.30, 95%CI 1.07-1.57). SCZ PRS (OR = 1.22, 95%CI: 1.01-1.48) and unrestored PRS (OR = 1.26, 95%CI 1.04-1.53) were only associated with admission history. Genes at exprAP PRS were enriched in regulation of cytokine production. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that PRS based on genes with altered expression by antipsychotics may be better predictors of readmission than SCZ PRS, warranting further investigation in larger cohorts of patients. The action of antipsychotics may be related to brain gene expression, mainly in genes involved in immunity.

A polygenic approach to the association between smoking and schizophrenia.

Smoking prevalence in schizophrenia is considerably larger than in general population, playing an important role in early mortality. We compared the polygenic contribution to smoking in schizophrenic patients and controls to assess if genetic factors may explain the different prevalence. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for smoking initiation and four genetically correlated traits were calculated in 1108 schizophrenic patients (64.4% smokers) and 1584 controls (31.1% smokers). PRSs for smoking initiation, educational attainment, body mass index and age at first birth were associated with smoking in patients and controls, explaining a similar percentage of variance in both groups. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) PRS was associated with smoking only in schizophrenia. This association remained significant after adjustment by psychiatric cross-disorder PRS. A PRS combining all the traits was more explanative than smoking initiation PRS alone, indicating that genetic susceptibility to the other traits plays an additional role in smoking behaviour. Smoking initiation PRS was also associated with schizophrenia in the whole sample, but the significance was lost after adjustment for smoking status. This same pattern was observed in the analysis of specific SNPs at the CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4 cluster associated with both traits. Overall, the results indicate that the same genetic factors are involved in smoking susceptibility in schizophrenia and in general population and are compatible with smoking acting, directly or indirectly, as a risk factor for schizophrenia that contributes to the high prevalence of smoking in these patients. The contrasting results for ADHD PRS may be related to higher ADHD symptomatology in schizophrenic patients.

Identification of putative second genetic hits in schizophrenia carriers of high-risk copy number variants and resequencing in additional samples.

Copy number variants (CNVs) conferring risk of schizophrenia present incomplete penetrance, suggesting the existence of second genetic hits. Identification of second hits may help to find genes with rare variants of susceptibility to schizophrenia. The aim of this work was to search for second hits of moderate/high risk in schizophrenia carriers of risk CNVs and resequencing of the relevant genes in additional samples. To this end, ten patients with risk CNVs at cytobands 15q11.2, 15q11.2-13.1, 16p11.2, or 16p13.11, were subjected to whole-exome sequencing. Rare single nucleotide variants, defined as those absent from main public databases, were classified according to bioinformatic prediction of pathogenicity by CADD scores. The average number of rare predicted pathogenic variants per sample was 13.6 (SD 2.01). Two genes, BFAR and SYNJ1, presented rare predicted pathogenic variants in more than one sample. Follow-up resequencing of these genes in 432 additional cases and 432 controls identified a significant excess of rare predicted pathogenic variants in case samples at SYNJ1. Taking into account its function in clathrin-mediated synaptic vesicle endocytosis at presynaptic terminals, our results suggest an impairment of this process in schizophrenia.

Cumulative role of rare and common putative functional genetic variants at NPAS3 in schizophrenia susceptibility.

Schizophrenia may be considered a human-specific disorder arisen as a maladaptive by-product of human-specific brain evolution. Therefore, genetic variants involved in susceptibility to schizophrenia may be identified among those genes related to acquisition of human-specific traits. NPAS3, a transcription factor involved in central nervous system development and neurogenesis, seems to be implicated in the evolution of human brain, as it is the human gene with most human-specific accelerated elements (HAEs), i.e., .mammalian conserved regulatory sequences with accelerated evolution in the lineage leading to humans after human-chimpanzee split. We hypothesize that any nucleotide variant at the NPAS3 HAEs may lead to altered susceptibility to schizophrenia. Twenty-one variants at these HAEs detected by the 1000 genomes Project, as well as five additional variants taken from psychiatric genome-wide association studies, were genotyped in 538 schizophrenic patients and 539 controls from Galicia. Analyses at the haplotype level or based on the cumulative role of the variants assuming different susceptibility models did not find any significant association in spite of enough power under several plausible scenarios regarding direction of effect and the specific role of rare and common variants. These results suggest that, contrary to our hypothesis, the special evolution of the NPAS3 HAEs in Homo relaxed the strong constraint on sequence that characterized these regions during mammalian evolution, allowing some sequence changes without any effect on schizophrenia risk.

Role of DISC1 interacting proteins in schizophrenia risk from genome-wide analysis of missense SNPs.

A balanced translocation affecting DISC1 cosegregates with several psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, in a Scottish family. DISC1 is a hub protein of a network of protein-protein interactions involved in multiple developmental pathways within the brain. Gene set-based analysis has been proposed as an alternative to individual analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to get information from genome-wide association studies. In this work, we tested for an overrepresentation of the DISC1 interacting proteins within the top results of our ranked list of genes based on our previous genome-wide association study of missense SNPs in schizophrenia. Our data set consisted of 5100 common missense SNPs genotyped in 476 schizophrenic patients and 447 control subjects from Galicia, NW Spain. We used a modification of the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis adapted for SNPs, as implemented in the GenGen software. The analysis detected an overrepresentation of the DISC1 interacting proteins (permuted P-value=0.0158), indicative of the role of this gene set in schizophrenia risk. We identified seven leading-edge genes, MACF1, UTRN, DST, DISC1, KIF3A, SYNE1, and AKAP9, responsible for the overrepresentation. These genes are involved in neuronal cytoskeleton organization and intracellular transport through the microtubule cytoskeleton, suggesting that these processes may be impaired in schizophrenia.

No evidence that major mtDNA European haplogroups confer risk to schizophrenia.

Previous studies suggest that genetic factors could be involved in mitochondrial dysfunction observed in schizophrenia (SZ), some of them claiming a role of mtDNA common variants (mtSNPs) and/or haplogroups (hgs) in developing this disorder. These studies, however, have mainly been undertaken on relatively small cohorts of patients and control individuals and most have not yet been replicated. To further analyze the role of mtSNPs in SZ risk, we have carried out the largest genotyping effort to date using two Spanish case-control samples comprising a total of 942 schizophrenic patients and 1,231 unrelated controls: 454 patients and 616 controls from Santiago de Compostela (Galicia) and 488 patients and 615 controls from Reus (Catalonia). A set of 25 mtSNPs representing main branches of the European mtDNA phylogeny were genotyped in the Galician cohort and a subset of 16 out of these 25 mtSNPs was genotyped in the Catalan cohort. These 16 common variants characterize the most common European branches of the mtDNA phylogeny. We did not observe any positive association of mtSNPs and hgs with SZ. We discuss several deficiencies of previous studies that might explain the false positive nature of previous findings, including the confounding effect of population sub-structure and deficient statistical methodologies. It is unlikely that mtSNPs defining the most common European mtDNA haplogroups are related to SZ.

Emergence of Fosfomycin Resistance by Plasmid-Mediated fos Genes in Uropathogenic ESBL-Producing E. coli Isolates in Mexico.

Fosfomycin is currently a viable option against urinary tract infections, particularly against extended-spectrum ß-lactamases (ESBL)-producing E. coli, due to its unique mechanism of action and its low resistance among bacteria. The objective of this study was to investigate two of the three most common mechanisms of resistance against this antibiotic among 350 ESBL-producing E. coli strains isolated from the urine of Mexican patients. The prevalence of fosfomycin resistance in our study was 10.9% (38/350). Of all resistant isolates analyzed, 23 (60.5%) were identified as fos-producing organisms, with 14 strains carrying fosA3 and 9, fosA1. Additionally, 11 (28.9%) fosfomycin-resistant isolates presented resistance due to impaired antibiotic transport and 8 (21.0%) both mechanisms. No resistance mechanism investigated in the study was found on 12 strains. All 38 confirmed ESBL-producing isolates carried a blaCTX-M subtype, 36 (94.5%) belonged to the O25b-ST131 clone, and all of them were able to transfer the fosfomycin resistance trait to recipient strains horizontally. This is the first study in Mexico demonstrating a plasmid-mediated fosfomycin resistance mechanism among clinical E. coli strains. Since our results suggest a strong association among fos and blaCTX-M genes and ST131 clones in uropathogenic E. coli, plasmid-mediated fosfomycin resistance should be closely monitored.

Testing the antagonistic pleiotropy model of schizophrenia susceptibility by analysis of DAOA, PPP1R1B, and APOL1 genes.

Schizophrenia is a common disease associated with reduced fertility. Therefore, the existence of common susceptibility alleles not removed by natural selection may be considered an evolutionary paradox. The antagonistic pleiotropy model, proposed to explain this paradox, states that an allele may be common because of its overall selective advantage, in spite of deleterious effects on specific traits. Recent work on DAOA, PPP1R1B, and APOL1 suggests that these genes present common alleles associated to increase risk of schizophrenia but conferring an overall selective advantage, related to better cognitive performance (DAOA and PPP1R1B) or protection against pathogens (APOL1). To test if these genes fit the antagonistic pleiotropy model, we searched for recent natural selection at these loci applying the long-range haplotype test on data from the HapMap Project; and performed case-control association analysis in a well-powered sample, including 301 schizophrenic patients and 604 controls from Spain. For DAOA and PPP1R1B, we genotyped the Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) needed to replicate previous associations, while for APOL1, we genotyped 15 tagSNPs, and seven putative functional SNPs. We did not detect evidence of recent natural selection. Furthermore, we did not find significant associations. Thus, these genes do not fit the antagonistic pleiotropy model.

Identification of relevant hub genes for early intervention at gene coexpression modules with altered predicted expression in schizophrenia.

Genetic risk for schizophrenia is due to the joint effect of multiple genes acting mainly at two different processes, prenatal/perinatal neurodevelopment and adolescence/early adulthood synapse maturation. Identification of important genes at the second process is of relevance for early intervention. The aim of this work was to identify gene co-expression modules with altered expression in schizophrenia during adolescence/early adulthood. To this goal, we predicted frontal cortex gene expression in one discovery sample, the largest GWAS of schizophrenia from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, using S-prediXcan, and in one target sample, consisting of 625 schizophrenic patients and 819 controls from Spain, using prediXcan. Prediction models were trained on GTEx frontal cortex expression dataset. In parallel, we identified brain co-expression modules from BrainSpan using WGCNA. Then, we estimated polygenic risk scores based on predicted expression (PE-PRS) for each co-expression module in the target sample, based on PE-PRS model from the discovery sample. This analysis led to the identification of a module with mainly adolescence/adulthood expression whose PE-PRS was significantly associated with schizophrenia. The module was significantly enriched in synaptic processes. Several hub genes at this module are drugabble, according to the drug-gene interaction database, and/or involved in synaptic transmission, such as the voltage-gated ion channels SCN2B and KCNAB2, the calcium calmodulin kinases CAMK2A and CAMK1G, or genes involved in synaptic vesicle cycle, such as DNM1, or SYNGR1. Therefore, identification of this module may be the first step in patient stratification based on biology, as well as in drug design and drug repurposing efforts.

Screening of Uruguayan plants for deterrent activity against insects.

We evaluated the anti-insectan activity of extracts from different vegetative parts of ten plant species native to Uruguay. The selected plants belong to five families: Bignoniaceae: Clytostoma callistegioides, Dolichandra cynanchoides, Macfadyena unguis-cati; Sapindaceae: Dodonaea viscosa, Allophylus edulis, Serjania meridionalis; Lamiaceae: Salvia procurrens, Salvia guaranitica; Solanaceae: Lycium cestroides; and Phytolaccaceae: Phytolacca dioica. The extracts were evaluated in independent bioassays against four insect pests and one beneficial insect. Aphid settling inhibition was evaluated with a grass specialist, Rhopalosiphum padi, and a feeding generalist, Myzus persicae (both Hemiptera: Aphididae). Antifeedant activity was tested with adults of the specialist Epilachna paenulata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and larvae of the generalist Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Finally, contact toxicity was assessed with honey bees, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Strong settling inhibition (SI) activity (expressed as %SI, where 100% means complete inhibition by the extract) was found only for the twig extracts of A. edulis (Sapindaceae) against M. persicae (% SI = 77 +/- 4). Antifeedant activity (expressed as % of feeding reduction (FR), where 100% means no consumption on extract-treated diet) against E. paenulata was significant for the leaf extracts of L. cestroides (Solanaceae) (% FR = 100 +/- 0) as well as of all Bignoniaceae and Sapindaceae species. No extracts were active against S. littoralis larvae, and most of them were innocuous to honey bees, with the exception of L. cestroides and S. meridionalis leaf extracts.

Extensive linkage disequilibrium mapping at HTR2A and DRD3 for schizophrenia susceptibility genes in the Galician population.

The serotonin and dopamine neurotransmitter systems are candidate pathways in the development of schizophrenia because of the assumed causal relationship with the observed symptoms as well as effective targeting of the corresponding receptors by antipsychotic drugs. However, genetic association studies have systematically focused on a limited set of genes and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including T102C at HTR2A and Ser9Gly at DRD3. Meta-analyses of the associations between these two markers and schizophrenia revealed a true increase in risk, the magnitude of the effect being very low. In the present study we analyzed 260 schizophrenic patients and 354 control subjects from a homogeneous population, the Galician population, using an extensive linkage disequilibrium (LD) mapping approach, genotyping a total of 47 SNPs to test for the existence of additional variants that confer higher risk. We detected nominal significant association with schizophrenia for several haplotype tag SNPs (htSNPs) at HTR2A, although the significance was lost after multiple test corrections. In addition, haplotype analyses involving a sliding window approach, with window size 2 to 4 SNPs, revealed significant differences in frequencies of the DRD3 haplotypes at the 3' half of the gene region. This difference, which remains clearly significant after multiple test corrections (p=0.002, 0.0001, and 0.0025, for window sizes 2, 3, and 4, respectively), was mainly due to over-representation of several rare haplotypes in patients, at the expense of a single common haplotype; this represents interesting evidence of rare haplotypes for susceptibility detected using common htSNPs due to their strong effect.

Renal tubular dysfunction in schizophrenic patients treated with antipsychotic drugs.

Several factors have been considered in relation to the free radical formation in schizophrenia, such as the disease itself, drug treatment and smoking. Several chemicals and drugs may cause damage to the renal tubules by different subcellular mechanisms including oxidative stress, and the aim of our study was the investigation of tubular dysfunction in schizophrenic patients. The urinary excretion of beta-N-acetylhexosaminidase (Hex) and its isoenzymes Hex A and Hex B, alpha1-microglobulin, albumin, total proteins and fractionated porphyrins were determined in 45 schizophrenic patients treated with first- and second-generation antipsychotics. In 7 patients, an increase in proteinuria of tubular origin was found, and in one as a result of mixed glomerular/tubular origin. The group of patients had a significantly higher level of excretion than the control group (n = 54) of total Hex (p < 0.001), Hex A (p < 0.05), Hex B (p < 0.001) and the relative proportion of this isoenzyme (p < 0.001). In some cases with normal levels of total Hex and urinary alpha1-microglobulin, the proportion of Hex B was already increased. Significant correlations were found for total Hex and its isoenzymes with alpha1-microglobulin (p < 0.001). Also, the porphyrins had significant correlations with total Hex (p < 0.001), Hex A (p < 0.05), Hex B (p < 0.005) and alpha1-microglobulin (p < 0.001). In the group of patients studied, it was possible to reveal early tubular cell damage (affected structural integrity) with increased excretion of Hex B, possibly mediated by free radicals, previous to the decrease in tubular reabsorption of proteins with low molecular mass filtered by the glomerulus (affected functional integrity).

SARS-CoV-2 vs. COVID-19 de adquisición nosocomial: estudio en un hospital pediátrico de tercer nivel de atención / Acquired nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 vs. COVID-19: Study in a pediatric hospital of tertiary level hospital care

Resumen Introducción: La infección nosocomial por coronavirus, del síndrome respiratorio agudo grave (SARS-CoV-2) se ha reportado sobre todo en unidades de adultos. Objetivo: Dar a conocer un reporte de casos pediátricos con infección nosocomial por SARS-CoV-2. Materiales y métodos: Se analizaron pacientes con infección nosocomial por SARS-Cov-2 vs. COVID-19, confirmados mediante reacción en cadena de la polimerasa transcriptasa inversa (RT-PCR) en tiempo real, ingresados al Hospital Infantil de México. Resultados: De un total de 163 pacientes analizados, solo 9 (5.5%) adquirieron SARS-CoV-2 durante su estancia hospitalaria. Cinco fueron del sexo masculino (55.5%) y 4 (44.4%) femenino, predominando los adolescentes (4 [44.4%]), todos mayores de 17 años. Solo uno desarrolló síndrome inflamatorio multisistémico. Analizamos 18 datos clínicos, de los cuales el síntoma más frecuente fue la fiebre, seguida de hiporexia y dolor abdominal. Discusión: La infección nosocomial por SARS-CoV-2 en pediatría se estará reportando más seguido. Conclusiones: Es necesario tener una definición más homogénea en cuanto a SARS-CoV-2 vs. COVID-19 nosocomial.

Abstract Background: Nosocomial infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been reported mainly in adult units. Objective: To present a report of pediatric cases with nosocomial infection by SARS-CoV-2. Materials and methods: Patients with nosocomial infection by SARS-Cov-2 vs. COVID-19, confirmed by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), admitted to the Children´s Hospital of Mexico. Results: Of a total of 163 patients analyzed, only 9 (5.5%) acquired SARS-CoV-2 during their hospital stay. Five were male (55.5%) and 4 (44.4%) females, predominantly adolescents (4 [44.4%]), all older than 17 years. Only one developed multisystem inflammatory syndrome. We analyzed 18 clinical data, of which the most frequent symptom was fever, followed by hyporexia and abdominal pain. Discussion: Nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection in pediatrics will be reported more often. Conclusions: It is necessary to have a more homogeneous definition regarding SARS-CoV-2 vs. nosocomial COVID-19.

Targeted resequencing of regulatory regions at schizophrenia risk loci: Role of rare functional variants at chromatin repressive states.

There is mounting evidence that regulatory variation plays an important role in genetic risk for schizophrenia. Here, we specifically search for regulatory variants at risk by sequencing promoter regions of twenty-three genes implied in schizophrenia by copy number variant or genome-wide association studies. After strict quality control, a total of 55,206bp per sample were analyzed in 526 schizophrenia cases and 516 controls from Galicia, NW Spain, using the Applied Biosystems SOLiD System. Variants were filtered based on frequency from public databases, chromatin states from the RoadMap Epigenomics Consortium at tissues relevant for schizophrenia, such as fetal brain, mid-frontal lobe, and angular gyrus, and prediction of functionality from RegulomeDB. The proportion of rare variants at polycomb repressive chromatin state at relevant tissues was higher in cases than in controls. The proportion of rare variants with predicted regulatory role was significantly higher in cases than in controls (P=0.0028, OR=1.93, 95% C.I.=1.23-3.04). Combination of information from both sources led to the identification of an excess of carriers of rare variants with predicted regulatory role located at polycomb repressive chromatin state at relevant tissues in cases versus controls (P=0.0016, OR=19.34, 95% C.I.=2.45-2495.26). The variants are located at two genes affected by the 17q12 copy number variant, LHX1 and HNF1B. These data strongly suggest that a specific epigenetic mechanism, chromatin remodeling by histone modification during early development, may be impaired in a subset of schizophrenia patients, in agreement with previous data.

An efficient screening method for simultaneous detection of recurrent copy number variants associated with psychiatric disorders.

Several recurrent copy number variants (CNVs) increasing risk to neuropsychiatric diseases have been identified in recent years. They show variable clinical expressivity, being associated with different disorders, and incomplete penetrance. However, due to its very low frequency, the full variety of clinical outcomes associated with each one of these CNVs is unknown. Current methods for detection of CNVs are labor intensive, expensive or not suitable for high throughput analysis. Quantitative interspecies competitive PCR linked to variant minisequencing and detection by mass-spectrometry may overcome these limitations. Here, we present two multiplex assays based on this method to screen for eleven psychiatric risk CNVs, such as 1q21, 16p11.2, 3q29, or 16p13.11 regions, among others. The assays were tested in our collection of 514 schizophrenia patients. Results were compared with MLPA at two CNVs. Additional positive results were confirmed by exome sequencing. A total of fourteen patients were CNV carriers. The method presents high sensitivity and specificity, showing its utility as a cheap, accurate, high throughput screening tool for recurrent CNVs. The method may be very useful for management of psychiatric patients as well as screening of different collections of samples to better identify the full spectrum of clinical variability.

Resequencing and association analysis of coding regions at twenty candidate genes suggest a role for rare risk variation at AKAP9 and protective variation at NRXN1 in schizophrenia susceptibility.

A fraction of genetic risk to develop schizophrenia may be due to low-frequency variants. This multistep study attempted to find low-frequency variants of high effect at coding regions of eleven schizophrenia susceptibility genes supported by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and nine genes for the DISC1 interactome, a susceptibility gene-set. During the discovery step, a total of 125 kb per sample were resequenced in 153 schizophrenia patients and 153 controls from Galicia (NW Spain), and the cumulative role of low-frequency variants at a gene or at the DISC1 gene-set were analyzed by burden and variance-based tests. Relevant results were meta-analyzed when appropriate data were available. In addition, case-only putative damaging variants were genotyped in a further 419 cases and 398 controls. The discovery step revealed a protective effect of rare missense variants at NRXN1, a result supported by meta-analysis (OR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.47-0.94, P = 0.021, based on 3848 patients and 3896 controls from six studies). The follow-up step based on case-only putative damaging variants revealed a promising risk variant at AKAP9. This variant, K873R, reached nominal significance after inclusion of 240 additional Spanish controls from databases. The variant, located in an ADCY2 binding region, is absent from large public databases. Interestingly, GWAS revealed an association between common ADCY2 variants and bipolar disorder, a disorder with considerable genetic overlap with schizophrenia. These data suggest a role of rare missense variants at NRXN1 and AKAP9 in schizophrenia susceptibility, probably related to alteration of the excitatory/inhibitory synaptic balance, deserving further investigation.

Association study of nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies using several hundred thousand anonymous markers present limited statistical power. Alternatively, association studies restricted to common nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) have the advantage of strongly reducing the multiple testing problem, while increasing the probability of testing functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). METHODS: We performed a case-control association study of common nsSNPs in Galician (northwest Spain) samples using the Affymetrix GeneChip Human 20k cSNP Kit, followed by a replication study of the more promising results. After quality control procedures, the discovery sample consisted of 5100 nsSNPs at minor allele frequency >5% analyzed in 476 schizophrenia patients and 447 control subjects. The replication sample consisted of 4069 cases and 15,128 control subjects of European origin. We also performed multilocus analysis, using aggregated scores of nsSNPs at liberal significance thresholds and cross-validation procedures. RESULTS: The 5 independent nsSNPs with false discovery rate q ≤ .25, as well as 13 additional nsSNPs at p < .01 and located in functional candidate genes, were genotyped in the replication samples. One SNP, rs13107325, located at the metal ions transporter gene SLC39A8, reached significance in the combined sample after Bonferroni correction (trend test, p = 2.7 × 10(-6), allelic odds ratio = 1.32). This SNP presents minor allele frequency of 5% to 10% in many European populations but is rare outside Europe. We also confirmed the polygenic component of susceptibility. CONCLUSIONS: Taking into account that another metal ions transporter gene, SLC39A3, is associated to bipolar disorder, our findings reveal a role for brain metal homeostasis in psychosis.

Heterozygosity at catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met and schizophrenia: new data and meta-analysis.

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) has been largely studied in relation to schizophrenia susceptibility. Most studies focused on the functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs4680 that causes a substitution of Val by Met at codon 158 of the COMT protein. Recent meta-analyses do not support an association between allelic variants at rs4680 and schizophrenia. However, the putative role of overdominance has not been tested in meta-analyses, despite its biological plausibility. In this work, we tested the overdominant model in two Spanish samples (from Valencia and Santiago de Compostela), representing a total of 762 schizophrenic patients and 1042 controls, and performed a meta-analysis of the available studies under this model. A total of 51 studies comprising 13,894 schizophrenic patients and 16,087 controls were included in the meta-analysis, that revealed a small but significant protective effect for heterozygosity at rs4680 (pooled OR=0.947, P=0.023). Post-hoc analysis on southwestern European samples suggested a stronger effect in these populations (pooled OR=0.813, P=0.0009). Thus, the COMT functional polymorphism rs4680 contributes to schizophrenia genetic susceptibility under an overdominant model, indicating that both too high and too low levels of dopamine (DA) signalling may be risk factors. This effect can be modulated by genetic background.

Interaction between COMT haplotypes and cannabis in schizophrenia: a case-only study in two samples from Spain.

Cannabis use is one of the environmental factors with more solid evidence contributing to schizophrenia risk, especially in genetically susceptible individuals. One of the genes that may interact with cannabis is COMT, although available data are scarce. Here, we present a case-only study of the putative COMT-cannabis interaction in schizophrenia. Two Spanish samples from Santiago de Compostela and Valencia were screened for cannabis use. One hundred and fifty five individuals from a total of 748 patients were identified as cannabis users. Five SNPs in COMT, defining three common functional haplotypes with different enzymatic activities, were genotyped and analyzed for association at the SNP, haplotype and genotype levels. An association was detected between cannabis use and low activity variants (P<0.01) in the joint analysis and results were consistent between the two samples. Schizophrenic subjects homozygous for the Met allele at rs4680 doubled the probability of lifetime prevalence of cannabis use in comparison to Val homozygous (Mantel-Haenszel OR=2.07, 95% CI: 1.27-3.26, P=0.0031, in the combined sample). These data are in contrast to those from Caspi et al. (Biol. Psychiatry 57 (2005)1117-1127) who found association between schizophrenia/schizophreniform disorder and homozygosity at the high activity Val variant of rs4680. The results of our study are discussed in the context of previous findings, suggesting the involvement of COMT polymorphisms in the association between cannabis use and schizophrenia as well as the existence of additional factors mediating this association. However, further research is needed to confirm the COMT-cannabis interaction.