Prevalence of childhood trauma and correlations between childhood trauma, suicidal ideation, and social support in patients with depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia in southern China.

BACKGROUND: Childhood trauma has long-term adverse effects on physical and psychological health. Previous studies demonstrated that suicide and mental disorders were related to childhood trauma. In China, there is insufficient research available on childhood trauma in patients with mental disorders. METHODS: Outpatients were recruited from a psychiatric hospital in southern China, and controls were recruited from local communities. The demographic questionnaire, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), and the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) were completed by all participants, and the Self-rating Idea of Suicide Scale (SIOSS) were completed only by patients. Prevalence rates of childhood trauma were calculated. Kruskal-Wallis test and Dunnett test were used to compare CTQ-SF and SSRS scores between groups. Logistic regression was used to control demographic characteristics and examine relationships between diagnosis and CTQ-SF and SSRS scores. Spearman's rank correlation test was conducted to analyze relationships between suicidal ideation and childhood trauma and suicidal ideation and social support. RESULTS: The final sample comprised 229 patients with depression, 102 patients with bipolar, 216 patient with schizophrenia, and 132 healthy controls. In our sample, 55.5% of the patients with depression, 61.8% of the patients with bipolar disorder, 47.2% of the patients with schizophrenia, and 20.5% of the healthy people reported at least one type of trauma. In patient groups, physical neglect (PN) and emotional neglect (EN) were most reported, and sexual abuse (SA) and physical abuse (PA) were least reported. CTQ-SF and SSRS total scores, and most of their subscale scores in patient groups were significantly different from the control group. After controlling demographic characteristics, mental disorders were associated with higher CTQ-SF scores and lower SSRS scores. CTQ-SF scores and number of trauma types were positively correlated with the SIOSS score. Negative correlations existed between SSRS scores and the SIOSS score. LIMITATIONS: Our sample may not be sufficiently representative. Some results might have been interfered by demographic characteristics. The SIOSS was not completed by controls. Data from self-report scales were not sufficiently objective. CONCLUSIONS: In southern China, childhood trauma is more severe and more prevalent in patients with mental disorders (depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia) than healthy people. Among patients with mental disorders in southern China, suicidal ideation is associated with childhood trauma and poor social support.

Stigma and discrimination experienced by people with schizophrenia living in the community in Guangzhou, China.

The aims of this study were to investigate experienced stigma and discrimination and their associated factors in people with schizophrenia who live in the community in Guangzhou, China. A total of 384 people with schizophrenia were randomly recruited from four districts of Guangzhou and completed the scales and questionnaires: Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness scale (ISMI), Self-Esteem Scale (SES), Discrimination and Stigma Scale (DISC-12), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), PANSS negative scale (PANSS-N), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale (SQLS). Insight and medication compliance were evaluated by psychiatrists. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multivariable linear regression. We found a significant positive correlation between BPRS score and PANSS-N score, GAF score was significantly negative correlated with SQLS score, Insight score was significantly negative correlated with medication compliance score, ISMI score was significantly positive correlated with SES score and experienced discrimination score. Multivariable linear regression found SQLS, SES and experienced discrimination were the main independent variables of ISMI and experienced discrimination was the most important factor of ISMI. Our findings suggest that people with schizophrenia often experienced stigma and discrimination in this Chinese population, and more anti-stigma interventions should be provided.

Neuropsychological performance of patients with soft bipolar spectrum disorders.

OBJECTIVES: There is much evidence that shows that a substantial number of individuals with DSM-IV-defined unipolar depression (UP) manifest hypomanic sub-syndrome and bipolar diathesis. Other definitions have conceptualized the term soft bipolar spectrum (SBP) for these individuals. Little is known about the cognitive profiles of individuals with SBP. We hypothesized that they are representative of individuals with bipolar II disorder and are different from that of 'strict' UP. METHODS: Consecutive referrals suffering major depressive episodes were categorically assigned to groups of either bipolar I disorder (n = 98), bipolar II disorder (n = 138), or UP (n = 300). Based on the SBP criteria by Akiskal and Pinto (17), patients with UP were subdivided into 81 SBP and 219 strict UP. We administered self- and clinician-administered scales to evaluate affective temperaments, and neuropsychological tests to assess seven cognitive domains. RESULTS: Patients with SBP performed significantly better than strict UP patients in the domains of processing speed (p = 0.002), visual-spatial memory (p = 0.017), and verbal working memory (p = 0.017). Compared to patients with bipolar I disorder, patients with SBP were significantly better in set shifting (p < 0.001) and visual-spatial memory (p = 0.042). Patients with SBP performed similarly to patients with bipolar II disorder in all of the cognitive domains tested (p > 0.05). There was a group × cognitive domain interaction effect between bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder, SBP, and strict UP groups [Pillai's F = 2.231, df = (18,1437), p = 0.002]. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that patients with SBP differ from patients with UP not only in external validators (e.g., family history of bipolar disorder) and hypomanic symptoms, but also in neuropsychological performance and that the profiles of cognitive functioning were different across bipolar I disorder and 'bipolar II spectrum' that subsumes bipolar II disorder and SBP.

Gray matter volume abnormalities in depressive patients with and without anxiety disorders.

Comorbidity with anxiety disorder is a relatively common occurrence in major depressive disorder. However, the unique and shared neuroanatomical characteristics of depression and anxiety disorders have not been fully identified. The aim of this study was to identify gray matter abnormalities and their clinical correlates in depressive patients with and without anxiety disorders. We applied voxel-based morphometry and region-of-interest analyses of gray matter volume (GMV) in normal controls (NC group, n = 28), depressive patients without anxiety disorder (DP group, n = 18), and depressive patients with anxiety disorder (DPA group, n = 20). The correlations between regional GMV and clinical data were analyzed. The DP group showed decreased GMV in the left insula (INS) and left triangular part of the inferior frontal gyrus when compared to the NC group. The DPA group showed greater GMV in the midbrain, medial prefrontal cortex, and primary motor/somatosensory cortex when compared to the NC group. Moreover, the DPA group showed greater GMV than the DP group in the frontal, INS, and temporal lobes. Most gray matter anomalies were significantly correlated with depression severity or anxiety symptoms. These correlations were categorized into 4 trend models, of which 3 trend models (ie, Models I, II, and IV) revealed the direction of the correlation between regional GMV and depression severity to be the opposite of that between regional GMV and anxiety symptoms. Importantly, the left INS showed a trend Model I, which might be critically important for distinguishing depressive patients with and without anxiety disorder. Our findings of gray matter abnormalities, their correlations with clinical data, and the trend models showing opposite direction may reflect disorder-specific symptom characteristics and help explain the neurobiological differences between depression and anxiety disorder.

Neuropsychological performance in melancholic, atypical and undifferentiated major depression during depressed and remitted states: a prospective longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Considerable evidence has demonstrated that melancholic and atypical major depression have distinct biological correlates relative to undifferentiated major depression, but few studies have specifically delineated neuropsychological performance for them. METHOD: In a six-week prospective longitudinal study, we simultaneously compared neuropsychological performance among melancholic depression (n=142), atypical depression (n=76), undifferentiated major depression (n=91), and healthy controls (n=200) during a major depressive episode and a clinically remitted state, respectively. We administered neuropsychological tests assessing processing speed, attention, shifting, planning, verbal fluency, visual spatial memory, and verbal working memory to all participants. RESULTS: During the depressive state, the three subtypes displayed extensive cognitive impairment, except for attention, when compared with the healthy controls. Melancholic depression significantly differed from atypical depression in processing speed and verbal fluency. In the remitted state, the three subtypes recovered their visual spatial memory and verbal working memory functions to the healthy control level. The recovery of the other domains (processing speed, set shifting, planning, and verbal fluency), however, was different across the subtypes. No predictive relationship existed between neuropsychological performance and the treatment outcome. LIMITATIONS: The drop-out rate in the six-week longitudinal study was relatively high. CONCLUSION: Our data provide preliminary evidence that during depressed states the three major depressive subtypes display similar cognitive deficits in some domains but differ in such domains as processing speed and verbal fluency. The recovery of the cognitive deficits following clinical remission from depression may be associated with subtypes of major depressive disorder.

Increased suicide attempts in young depressed patients with abnormal temporal-parietal-limbic gray matter volume.

BACKGROUND: Suicide is a major cause of death throughout the world. Approximately 60% of all suicides have a history of depression. Previous studies of structural brain imaging have shown that suicide is often associated with abnormal fronto-limbic networks. However, the mechanism underlying suicide in depression remains poorly understood. METHOD: Twenty sex- and age-matched suicidal unipolar patients were compared with 18 non-suicidal unipolar patients and 28 healthy controls. High-resolution T1-weighted 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were acquired. Hamilton Depressive Rating Scale (HAMD) and Self-Rating Depression scale (SDS) were evaluated. The criterion for suicidality was one or more documented lifetime suicide attempts. A whole-brain optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) approach was applied. The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) was used to measure cognitive scheme in depressive patients. RESULTS: Compared with controls, patients without suicide history showed significant decreased gray matter volume in the left insula lobe [-35 18 9], whereas patients with suicide history showed significantly decreased gray matter volume in the right middle temporal gyrus [60 -53 -8] and increased gray matter volume in the right parietal lobe [39 -39 60]. Compared with the non-suicidal depressed patient group, the suicidal group showed significant decreased gray matter volume in left limbic cingulated gyrus [-2 -21 28]. Moreover, the gray matter volume values in this significantly different brain region were negatively correlated with dysfunctional attitude scores in suicidal depressed patients. LIMITATIONS: This study needs replication and further clarification in a larger patient population. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide attempts in young depressed patients may be related to abnormal gray matter volumes in temporal-parietal-limbic networks. Specifically, small left limbic cingulate gyrus volumes may be a candidate for the prediction of suicide in young depressed patients.

Association of affective temperaments measured by TEMPS-a with cognitive deficits in patients with bipolar disorder.

BACKGROUND: Affective temperaments such as cyclothymia, which may be the fundamental substrates for bipolar disorder and bipolar II in particular, have been reported to be associated with abnormalities in the regions that are related to cognitive deficits in bipolar disorder. However, few studies have examined the effects of affective temperaments on neuropsychological performance in individuals with bipolar disorder. METHOD: In a six-week prospective study, we administered Chinese version of TEMPS-A (Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, San Diego-Autoquestionnair) to 93 patients with bipolar I depression, 135 patients with bipolar II depression, and 101 healthy controls. Cognitive function was assessed with a battery of neuropsychological tasks, including attention, processing speed, set shifting, planning, verbal working memory, verbal fluency, and visual spatial memory. Mixed-effects statistical models were used to assess the effects of affective temperaments on cognitive function. RESULTS: Bipolar patients with hyperthymic temperament showed greater cognitive deficits in set shifting (p=0.05) and verbal working memory (p=0.026) than did bipolar patients with non-predominant temperaments (predominant temperament was defined as one standard deviation above the mean). The differences in estimated marginal means were -0.624 (95% CI, -1.25 to 0) and -0.429 (95% CI, -0.81 to -0.05), respectively. Significant temperament X bipolar subtype interaction effects were observed for set shifting (Wald X(2)=18.161, p<0.001), planning (Wald X(2)=7.906, p=0.048), and visual spatial memory (Wald X(2)=16.418, p=0.001). LIMITATION: The anxious temperament was not evaluated. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that hyperthymic temperament may be associated with cognitive deficits in some specific domains in bipolar disorder; and that the effect of temperaments may be different across subtypes of bipolar disorder.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning and dysfunctional attitude in depressed patients with and without childhood neglect.

BACKGROUND: To date, the relationships between childhood neglect, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning and dysfunctional attitude in depressed patients are still obscure. METHODS: The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) was used to assess childhood emotional neglect and physical neglect. Twenty-eight depressed patients with childhood neglect and 30 depressed patients without childhood neglect from Guangzhou Psychiatric Hospital were compared with 29 age- and gender-matched control subjects without childhood neglect and 22 control subjects with childhood neglect. Cortisol awakening response, the difference between the cortisol concentrations at awakening and 30 minutes later, provided a measure of HPA axis functioning. The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale measured cognitive schema. RESULTS: HPA axis functioning was significantly increased in depressed patients with childhood neglect compared with depressed patients without childhood neglect (p < 0.001). HPA axis activity in the control group with childhood neglect was significantly higher than in the depressed group without childhood neglect (p < 0.001). Total scores of childhood neglect were positively correlated with HPA axis functioning and dysfunctional attitude scores, but not with severity of depression. We did not find correlations with HPA axis functioning and dysfunctional attitude or with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scores. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood neglect may cause hyperactivity of the HPA axis functioning and dysfunctional attitude, but does not affect depression severity.

The use of 15-point hypomanic checklist in differentiating bipolar I and bipolar II disorder from major depressive disorder.

OBJECTIVES: Individuals with bipolar disorder (BP) are often misdiagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). In this study, we developed a Chinese version of 15-point hypomania scale (HCL-15) in order to determine its sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of BP and BP-II in particular. METHODS: A total of 623 individuals suffering a major depressive episode (MDE) were systematically interviewed with both Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders, Patient Edition, and HCL-15. A cutoff score of 8 or more in HCL-15 was suggested for BP. RESULTS: Of the 623 depressed patients, 115 (18.5%) actually required a diagnosis of BP-I, and another 159 (25.5%) could be more appropriately diagnosed with BP-II, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria. The sensitivity of 15-HCL in detection of BP-II was 0.78 and 0.46 for BP-I; the specificity was 0.9 and 0.69, respectively. The specificity of HCL-15 for BP versus MDD was as high as 0.93. Approximately 60%-80% of all questions in the HCL-15 questionnaire revealed positive responses from patients, while items 11 and 12, measuring the consumption of alcohol, coffee and cigarettes, demonstrated a low positive response rate. CONCLUSIONS: The HCL-15 assessment scale was fairly sensitive and highly specific for a BP-II diagnosis but not for a BP-I diagnosis. Some items in the HCL-15 symptom list need to be further modified to better fit Chinese culture and customs. The HCL-15 scale could be a useful tool in clinical practice for screening individuals with BP-II in order to avoid a misdiagnosis of MDD.

Neuropsychological performance in bipolar I, bipolar II and unipolar depression patients: a longitudinal, naturalistic study.

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that cognitive deficits existed in mood disorders. Nevertheless, whether neuropsychological profiles differ three main subtypes of mood disorder (Bipolar I, Bipolar II and UP) remain understudied because most current studies include either mixed samples of bipolar I and bipolar II patients or mixed samples of different states of the illness. The main aim of the present study is to determine whether, or to some extent, specific cognitive domains could differentiate the main subtypes of mood disorders in the depressed and clinically remitted status. METHOD: Three groups of bipolar I (n=92), bipolar II (n=131) and unipolar depression (UP) patients (n=293) were tested with a battery of neuropsychological tests both at baseline (during a depressive episode) and after 6 weeks of treatment, contrasting with 202 healthy controls on cognitive performance. The cognitive domains include processing speed, attention, memory, verbal fluency and executive function. RESULTS: At the acute depressive state, the three patient groups (bipolar I, bipolar II and UP) showed cognitive dysfunction in processing speed, memory, verbal fluency and executive function but not in attention compared with controls. Post comparisons revealed that bipolar I depressed patients performed significantly worse in verbal fluency and executive function than bipolar II and UP depressed patients. No difference was found between bipolar II and UP depressed patients except for the visual memory. After 6 weeks of treatment, clinically remitted bipolar I and bipolar II patients only displayed cognitive impairment in processing speed and visual memory. Remitted UP patients showed cognitive impairment in executive function in addition to processing speed and visual memory. The three remitted patient groups scored similarly in processing speed and visual memory. LIMITATION: Clinically remitted patients were just recovered from a major depressive episode after 6 weeks of treatment and in relatively unstable state. CONCLUSION: Bipolar I, bipolar II and UP patients have a similar pattern of cognitive impairment during the state of acute depressive episode, but bipolar I patients experience greater impairment than bipolar II and UP patients. In clinical remission, both bipolar and UP patients show cognitive deficits in processing speed and visual memory, and executive dysfunction might be a status-maker for bipolar disorder, but a trait-marker for UP.

GAB2 is not associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease in Chinese Han.

It has recently been shown that GAB2 alleles modify the risk for late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) in apolipoprotein E (ApoE)epsilon4 allele carriers in a genome-wide association study. Some studies subsequently in Caucasians population, though not all, have demonstrated that GAB2 polymorphisms might be associated with LOAD susceptibility. The aim of this study is to evaluate the reported polymorphisms (rs2373115 and rs1385600) and GAB2 haplotypes (rs2373115-rs1385600) for an interaction with the ApoEepsilon4 allele in a cohort of Chinese LOAD. We conducted a case-control study in 292 LOAD and 227 non-demented controls from the Chinese Han population. Our study does not find any association between the two tested SNPs and GAB2 haplotypes and LOAD or any synergetic interaction between the SNPs and ApoE either. However, since the sample size required to show this point is large, our finding needs to be confirmed by a large independent sample of Chinese population.

The Q7R polymorphism in the saitohin gene is rare in a southern Chinese population.

Saitohin (STH) is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative diseases. Recent reports were inconclusive in showing that the Q7R polymorphism in the STH gene is associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD). We examined the Q7R polymorphism in 500 subjects (LOAD: 280; controls: 220) from Guangdong, China, by the Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism method. Only one QR heterozygous and no RR homozygous variants were found. Our results suggest that the frequency of the R allele in the Han population is lower than that in Caucasian and African populations. The Q7R polymorphism is unlikely to contribute significantly to Alzheimer's disease susceptibility of the Han population in south China and the variation of the Q7R polymorphism among different ethnic groups might account for the varied clinical manifestations of some STH-related diseases.

Inpatient suicide in a Chinese psychiatric hospital.

Little is known about the risk factors for suicide among psychiatric inpatients in China. In this study we identified the risk factors of suicide among psychiatric inpatients at Guangzhou Psychiatric Hospital. All psychiatric inpatients who died by suicide during the 1956-2005 period were included in this study. Using a case-control design, 64 inpatients with schizophrenia who died by suicide were compared with a matched 64 controls. The results indicate that the rate of suicide was 133.1/100,000 admissions (95%CI 103.4-162.9). There were no significant differences in the method, location, or time of suicide between male and female inpatients. The number of hospitalizations was significantly larger in the suicide group than that in the control group. In logistic regression analyses, guilty thought, depressive mood, and suicidal ideation and suicide attempt 1 month before hospital admission were identified as independent predictors of suicide among inpatients with schizophrenia. The findings of risk factors for schizophrenic inpatient suicide should be taken into account when developing interventions to prevent suicide among these patients.

Evaluation of choline acetyltransferase gene polymorphism (2384 G/A) in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: It has been hypothesized that choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity might be associated with cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD). A functional single nucleotide polymorphism (2384 G/A) of ChAT was proposed to be associated with AD risk and age of onset. The aim of this study was to evaluate this polymorphism in a cohort of Chinese AD patients and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS: We conducted a case-control study in 273 cases of sporadic AD, 97 MCI patients and 271 nondemented controls from the Chinese Han population. RESULTS: In AD, ChAT 2384 A carriers had a significantly earlier age of onset and worse individual cognitive function in Fuld Object-Memory Evaluation; in MCI, the carriers of both 2384 A and ApoE epsilon4 had a significantly earlier age of onset. CONCLUSION: ChAT 2384 A allele is a risk factor for AD and MCI.

The APOC3 SstI polymorphism is weakly associated with sporadic Alzheimer's disease in a Chinese population.

In order to clarify the relationship of apolipoprotein CIII (APOC3) polymorphism and sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Chinese, 165 sporadic AD patients and 174 age-matched elderly individuals were genotyped for the APOC3 SstI and apolipoprotein E (APOE) HhaI polymorphisms. As the result, the APOC3 3017G allele was found to be associated with AD in APOE epsilon4 allele noncarriers (chi2=4.433, P=0.035), and the risk estimate of allele C versus G resulted in an OR of 1.56 (95% CI: 1.03-2.37), although in total no significant differences of allelic or genotypic frequencies between patients and controls were found. Assessment of interaction between APOE epsilon4 and APOC3 3017G status presented an adjusted odds ratio of 0.62 (95% CI: 0.37-1.03) with a borderline significant P-value (P=0.066). Therefore, we conclude that the rare APOC3 G allele may offer some protection against the development of sporadic AD in APOE epsilon4 noncarriers in Chinese.

Mutation screening and association study of the neprilysin gene in sporadic Alzheimer's disease in Chinese persons.

Neprilysin has been reported to be a major beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta)-degrading enzyme. The decreased expression and activity of it may contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease by promoting the accumulation of Abeta. We used denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography to screen the neprilysin gene (NEP) for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 257 Chinese sporadic Alzheimer's disease patients and 242 cognitive normal controls. As a result, eight novel and one known SNP were identified. Three of them, -204G-->C in the promoter region, IVS17-294C-->T, and IVS22+36C-->A showed a significant association with Alzheimer's disease (p = .006,.017, and.003, respectively). Subsequent haplotype analysis provided further evidence of the association (global p < .0001 for the three SNPs mentioned above, and global p < .01 for the eight SNPs with rare allele frequency > 1%). These findings indicate that genetic variations within or extremely close to NEP might influence the susceptibility to Alzheimer's disease in Chinese persons.

[The C224T polymorphism in the cathepsin D gene is not associated with sporadic Alzheimer's disease in Chinese].

Cathepsin D is the major lysosomal/endosomal aspartic protease and exhibits beta- and gamma-secretase-like activity in vitro. Data from German suggest that the C224T polymorphism in the Cathepsin D gene (CTSD) exon 2 is strongly associated with the risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Meanwhile other studies have not been able to replicate the result. It's necessary to determine the genotype of the polymorphism in CTSD in Chinese sporadic AD patients and age-matched controls with normal cognition and examine possible association of the polymorphism with the disease. We find no strong evidence of association between the CTSD C224T polymorphism and Chinese sporadic AD. Whereas there may be a weak synergistic interaction between ApoE epsilon4 and CTSD T allele.

[No evidence for genetic association between alpha-2 macroglobulin I1000V polymorphism and sporadic Alzheimer's disease in two independent Chinese populations].

OBJECTIVE: Alpha-2 macroglobulin (alpha2M) is a proteinase inhibitor found in association with senile plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Also alpha2M has been implicated in several pathophysiological processes in AD. In view of the recent contradictory reports on the relationship between AD and a common polymorphism I1000V in A2M gene, the present authors studied a relatively large sample, determined the genotype of the I1000V polymorphism in A2M gene in sporadic AD patients and age-matched controls with normal cognition, and examined the possible association of the polymorphism with AD. METHODS: Genotypes of A2M and apolipoprotein E (apoE) were detected by polymerase chain reaction combined with restriction fragment length polymorphism in 257 patients and 242 controls in Guangzhou, and 112 patients and 113 controls in Chengdu. RESULTS: The 1000Val allele frequencies in the merged AD and control groups were 7.7% and 8.7%, respectively. The differences of allelic and genotypic frequencies between the patients and control subjects were not statistically significant, even after stratification by apoE epsilon4 status or by age-of-onset of the disease. CONCLUSION: The results of this study revealed no association between the I1000V polymorphism of A2M and Chinese sporadic AD in Guangzhou and Chengdu.

[Gln192Arg polymorphism of the paraoxonase-1 gene is not associated with Alzheimer's disease in Chinese].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between paraoxonase-1 (PON1) gene Gln192Arg polymorphism and sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Chinese. METHODS: A total of 165 AD patients and 174 age-matched control subjects were enrolled in this study for examination of PON1 Gln192Arg and apolipoprotein E gene polymorphisms using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). RESULTS: The distribution of PON1 allelic and genotypic frequencies did not significantly differ between AD patients and the control subjects, even after the stratification by ApoE-epsilon4 status. CONCLUSION: Gln192Arg polymorphism of the PON1 gene is not associated with sporadic AD in Chinese.