Research has provided strong evidence for oligodendrocyte and myelin-related genes dysfunction in schizophrenia. Several studies have suggested abnormalities in the expression of myelin-related genes including tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) involved in the neurodegeneration and remyelination. In order to further assess the role of TNFR2 in schizophrenia, we examined a functional bi-allelic polymorphism associated with an impaired NF-KB signaling and cell survival. In the present case/control study, 220 patients with schizophrenia and 176 healthy controls were genotyped by RFLP-PCR for the T/G polymorphism at the position 676 in exon 6 of the TNFR2 gene. We found a trend towards over-representation of TNFR2 676G in the patients compared to the controls (p=0.19 and 0.09 respectively). Interestingly, when we evaluated the association between this genetic polymorphism and the clinical variables of schizophrenia, our findings indicated that the frequencies of the G/G genotype and the G allele were significantly higher in paranoid (p=0.014 and p=0.012 respectively) and adult-onset paranoid (p=0.004 and p=0.004 respectively) schizophrenia patient group compared to the controls. The potential association was confirmed by a logistic regression model only for development of the paranoid form of schizophrenia (p=0.022) indicating a substantially increased risk for paranoid schizophrenia with inheritance of the TNFR2(G) allele. In conclusion, this polymorphism in TNFR2 or a gene in proximity seems to be associated specifically with paranoid schizophrenia, at least in the Tunisian population. A replication of our findings in other and larger populations could be of particular importance to establish TNFR2 as one of the susceptibility genes of paranoid schizophrenia.
The intron 2 polymorphism in IL1RN or a genetic polymorphism at proximity seems to be associated specifically with schizophrenia in the Tunisian male population.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.