Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, vascular type: a novel missense mutation in the COL3A1 gene.

We report a 34-year-old Japanese female with the vascular type of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. She had thin translucent skin, extensive bruising, toe joint hypermobility, left lower extremity varicose veins, and chronic wrist, knee and ankle joint pain. She also had dizziness caused by autonomic dysfunction. Magnetic resonance angiography showed tortuous vertebral and basilar arteries, mild left carotid canal bulging, and right anterior tibial artery hypoplasia. Electron microscopic examinations of a skin biopsy revealed extremely dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum in dermal fibroblasts and wide variability of individual collagen fibril diameters. A molecular analysis using a conventional total RNA method and a high-resolution melting curve analysis using genomic DNA revealed a novel missense mutation within exon 48 of the COL3A1 gene, c.3428G>A, leading to p.Gly1143Glu.

Leukemia inhibitory factor gene is associated with schizophrenia and working memory function.

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a member of the interleukin-6 cytokine family, regulates the neuronal phenotype and coordinates astrocyte, oligodendrocyte, microglia, and inflammatory cell responses. The LIF gene is located on 22q12.1-q12.2, a hot spot for schizophrenia. Three polymorphisms of the LIF gene (rs929271, rs737812, and rs929273) were examined in a case-control association study of 390 patients with schizophrenia and 410 age- and sex-matched controls. Effects of a risk genotype of LIF on cognitive domains were evaluated by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised, Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) in 355 healthy volunteers. The LIF gene showed significant associations with schizophrenia at rs929271 and a haplotype consisting of rs929271-rs737812. After stratification by subtype of schizophrenia, the hebephrenic, but not paranoid, type was associated with the LIF gene at rs929271 (allele, P=0.014) and the haplotype (permutation P=0.013). Having the T-allele and T-carrier genotypes (TT and TG) of rs929271 were risks for hebephrenic schizophrenia, and the odds ratios were 1.38 (95% CI: 1.21-1.56) and 1.54 (95%CI: 1.19-1.98), respectively. Subjects with T-carrier genotypes made significantly more errors on the WCST compared with those without (P=0.04). The present study indicated that the LIF gene variant may produce susceptibility to hebephrenic schizophrenia and deterioration of working memory function.

Association between neuropeptide Y gene and its receptor Y1 gene and methamphetamine dependence.

AIMS: Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36-amino acid peptide that is widely distributed in the brain, adrenal medulla, and sympathetic nervous system. Several lines of evidence suggest a possible involvement of the NPY system in the physiological effects of several classes of abused substances including alcohol, phencyclidine, cocaine, and marijuana and in endogenous psychosis. Accordingly, it was hypothesized that the NPY system may also be involved in methamphetamine dependence or psychosis. METHODS: The single nucleotide polymorphisms rs16147 of the NPY gene (-485C>T) and rs7687423 of the NPY receptor Y1 (NPY1R) gene were analyzed in 222 patients with methamphetamine dependence and psychosis and 288 age- and gender-matched controls. RESULTS: Genotypic distribution of the NPY1R gene showed a significant association with methamphetamine dependence and psychosis (P = 0.04), whereas the NPY gene had no significant association with them. CONCLUSION: It is possible that genetic variants of the NPY1R gene affect the NPY-NPY receptor type Y1 signaling system in the brain, which may result in susceptibility to methamphetamine dependence or the development of methamphetamine psychosis, but the present findings need to be confirmed on replication.

G72 gene is associated with susceptibility to methamphetamine psychosis.

Methamphetamine psychosis is considered as one of the pharmacological models of schizophrenia, and a hyperdopaminergic one. However, many lines of experimental evidence indicate that glutamatergic signaling is also involved in development of methamphetamine psychosis. Several genes related to glutamate function, e.g. the DTNBP1, G72, and GRM3 genes, were shown to be associated with schizophrenia susceptibility. Recently, we found significant association of the DTNBP1 gene with methamphetamine psychosis. This finding prompted us to examine the G72 gene encoding the d-amino acid oxidase activator (DAOA), which metabolizes d-serine, an NMDA co-agonist, in methamphetamine psychosis. Six SNPs of the G72 gene, which previously showed significant association with schizophrenia, were analyzed in 209 patients with methamphetamine psychosis and 291 age- and sex-matched normal controls. One SNP of M22 (rs778293) showed a significant association with methamphetamine psychosis (genotype: p=0.00016, allele: p=0.0015). Two haplotypes G-A of M12 (rs3916965)-M15 (rs2391191) (p=0.00024) and T-T of M23 (rs947267)-M24 (rs1421292) (p=0.00085) also showed associations with methamphetamine psychosis. The present findings suggest that the G72 gene may contribute to a predisposition to not only schizophrenia but also to methamphetamine psychosis.

The Frizzled 3 gene is associated with methamphetamine psychosis in the Japanese population.

BACKGROUND: Frizzled 3 (Fzd3) is a receptor required for the Wnt-signaling pathway, which has been implicated in the development of the central nervous system, including synaptogenesis and structural plasticity. We previously found a significant association between the FZD3 gene and susceptibility to schizophrenia, but subsequent studies showed inconsistent findings. To understand the roles of the FZD3 gene in psychotic disorders further, it should be useful to examine FZD3 in patients with methamphetamine psychosis because the clinical features of methamphetamine psychosis are similar to those of schizophrenia. METHODS: Six SNPs of FZD3, rs3757888 in the 3' flanking region, rs960914 in the intron 3, rs2241802, a synonymous SNP in the exon5, rs2323019 and rs352203 in the intron 5, and rs880481 in the intron 7, were selected based on the previous schizophrenic studies and analyzed in 188 patients with methamphetamine psychosis and 240 age- and gender-matched controls. RESULTS: A case-control association analyses revealed that two kinds of FZD3 haplotypes showed strong associations with methamphetamine psychosis (p < 0.00001). Having the G-A-T-G or A-G-C-A haplotype of rs2241802-rs2323019-rs352203-rs880481 was a potent negative risk factor (odds ratios were 0.13 and 0.086, respectively) for methamphetamine psychosis. CONCLUSION: Our present and previous findings indicate that genetic variants of the FZD3 gene affect susceptibility to two analogous but distinct dopamine-related psychoses, endogenous and substance-induced psychosis.

Reduced CYP2D6 activity is a negative risk factor for methamphetamine dependence.

Because methamphetamine (METH) is metabolized by CYP2D6 at the first step of hydroxylation and demethylation, it is possible that functional variants of CYP2D6 alter susceptibility to methamphetamine-induced dependence. We genotyped CYP2D6*1, *4, *5, *10, and *14 for 202 patients with METH dependence and 337 controls in a Japanese population and found a significant association of the CYP2D6 gene with METH dependence (p=0.0299). The patients had fewer *10 and *14 alleles, which are hypofunction alleles, than the controls. CYP2D6 genotypes were divided into three phenotypes: extensive metabolizers, intermediate metabolizers, and poor metabolizers. There was no poor metabolizer among our Japanese subjects, and intermediate metabolizers of CYP2D6 were significantly fewer in methamphetamine-dependent subjects than in controls (p=0.0212), with an odds ratio of 0.62 (95% confidence interval: 0.51-0.76). The present study demonstrated that reduced CYP2D6 activity was a negative risk factor for methamphetamine dependence.

The dysbindin gene (DTNBP1) is associated with methamphetamine psychosis.

BACKGROUND: The dysbindin (DTNBP1 [dystrobrevin-binding protein 1]) gene has repeatedly been shown to be associated with schizophrenia across diverse populations. One study also showed that risk haplotypes were shared with a bipolar disorder subgroup with psychotic episodes, but not with all cases. DTNBP1 may confer susceptibility to psychotic symptoms in various psychiatric disorders besides schizophrenia. METHODS: Methamphetamine psychosis, the psychotic symptoms of which are close to those observed in schizophrenia, was investigated through a case (n = 197)-control (n = 243) association analyses of DTNBP1. RESULTS: DTNBP1 showed significant associations with methamphetamine psychosis at polymorphisms of P1635 (rs3213207, p = .00003) and SNPA (rs2619538, p = .049) and the three-locus haplotype of P1655 (rs2619539)-P1635-SNPA (permutation p = .0005). The C-A-A haplotype, which was identical to the protective haplotype previously reported for schizophrenia and psychotic bipolar disorders, was a protective factor (p = .0013, odds ratio [OR] = .62, 95% confidence interval [CI] .51-.77) for methamphetamine psychosis. The C-G-T haplotype was a risk for methamphetamine psychosis (p = .0012, OR = 14.9, 95% CI 3.5-64.2). CONCLUSIONS: Our genetic evidence suggests that DTNBP1 is involved in psychotic liability not only for schizophrenia but also for other psychotic disorders, including substance-induced psychosis.

The glycine transporter 1 gene (GLYT1) is associated with methamphetamine-use disorder.

Glycine transporter (GlyT)-1 plays a pivotal role in maintaining the glycine level at the glutamatergic synapse. Glycine is an allosteric agonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Because activation of NMDA receptors is an essential step for induction of methamphetamine dependence and psychosis, differences in the functioning of GlyT-1 due to genetic variants of the GlyT-1 gene (GLYT1) may influence susceptibility. A case-control genetic association study of the GLYT1 gene examined 204 patients with methamphetamine-use disorder and 210 healthy controls. We examined three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), SNP1, IVS3 + 411C > T, rs2486001; SNP2, 1056G > A, rs2248829; and SNP3, IVS11 + 22G > A, rs2248632, of the GLYT1 gene and found that SNP1 showed a significant association in both genotype (P = 0.0086) and allele (P = 0.0019) with methamphetamine-use disorder. The T-G haplotype at SNP1 and SNP2 was a significant risk factor for the disorder (P = 0.000039, odds ratio: 2.04). The present findings indicate that genetic variation of the GLYT1 gene may contribute to individual vulnerability to methamphetamine dependence and psychosis.

Multiple genetic factors in olanzapine-induced weight gain in schizophrenia patients: a cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: One of the clinically significant adverse effects of olanzapine treatment is weight gain, which shows substantial inter-individual differences and may be influenced by genetic variation. The aim of this investigation was identification of genetic risk factors associated with olanzapine-induced weight gain. METHOD: Inpatients with DSM-IV-TR schizophrenia (N = 164) were administered olanzapine for 8 to 24 (mean +/- SD = 17.9 +/- 9.4) weeks. The clinical background, body mass index (BMI), and clinical response to olanzapine were investigated. Twenty-one loci of diverse candidate genes encoding dopamine, serotonin (5-HT), histamine, and adrenergic receptors, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, ghrelin, adiponectin, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma-2, were analyzed. The study was conducted from June 2001 to June 2003 at 4 psychiatric hospitals in Japan. RESULTS: BMI increased by a mean +/- SD 4.3 +/- 10.7% after treatment with olanzapine (mean +/- SD dose = 15.5 +/- 5.8 mg/day). Olanzapine-induced weight gain correlated negatively with baseline BMI and positively with clinical global improvement and the length of olanzapine treatment (p < .0001), but it did not correlate with the daily dose of olanzapine, concomitant antipsychotics, sex, age, or smoking. Four genetic variants, the 102T allele of HTR2A, the 825T allele of GNB3, the 23Cys allele of HTR2C, and the 64Arg/Arg genotype of ADRB3, were significantly associated with olanzapine-induced weight gain. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that the baseline BMI predicted 12.5% of the weight gain, and the 2 latter genetic factors added 6.8%. The patients with double and triple genetic risk factors showed 5.1% and 8.8% BMI increases, respectively, during olanzapine treatment, whereas the patients with a single or no risk factor showed approximately a 1% BMI increase. CONCLUSIONS: We identified genetic variants of 5-HT(2A) and 5-HT(2C) receptors, the G-protein beta-3 subunit, and the adrenergic receptor beta-3, as genetic risk factors for olanzapine-induced weight gain, and they showed additive genetic effects on weight gain.

A genetic variant of the serine racemase gene is associated with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Serine racemase (SRR) is a brain-enriched enzyme that converts L-serine to D-serine, which acts as an endogenous ligand of N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Dysfunction of SRR may reduce the function of NMDA receptors and susceptibility to schizophrenia. METHODS: We genotyped three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the 5' region of the SRR gene in 525 patients with schizophrenia and 524 healthy controls. Effects of SNPs on the promoter activity and on serum levels of total and D-serine were examined. RESULTS: We found a significant excess of the IVS1a+465C allele of the SRR gene in schizophrenia, especially in the paranoid subtype (p = .0028). A reporter assay showed that the IVS1a+465C allele had 60% lower promoter activity than did the IVS1a+465G allele. CONCLUSIONS: The IVS1a+465C allele of the SRR gene, which reduces expression of the gene, is a risk factor for schizophrenia, especially the paranoid subtype.