Objective: Although the etiology of schizophrenia is unknown, it has a significant genetic component. A number of studies have indicated that neuregulin-1 (NRG1) gene may play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. In this study, we examined whether the rs2439272 of NRG1 is associated with schizophrenia and its negative symptoms in an Iranian population.
Method: Rs2439272 was genotyped in 469 participants including 276 unrelated patients with schizophrenia and 193 healthy controls. The association of genetic risk with PANSS, and negative symptoms was examined in the total, male and female samples. COCAPHASE and CLUMP22 programs were used to compare the allele and genotype frequencies, and general linear regression was used to analyze the quantitative dependent variables by the selected variant.
Results: In this study, it was revealed that the G allele of rs2439272 might be an allele with the increased risk of developing schizophrenia, especially in the male participants. In addition, significant differences were found between the G allele and GG genotype frequencies and PANSS, and negative symptoms in the total and male participants.
Conclusion: Our results supported the association between rs2439272 in NRG1 gene and risk of schizophrenia and its negative symptoms in an Iranian population.