ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the association of catechol-O-methyhransferase(COMT) gene polymorphisms with schizophrenia susceptibility and its symptoms assessed by Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)in southern Chinese population.Methods COMT gene rs4633,rs4680 and rs8185002 polymorphisms were genotyped using Sequenom genotyping technology in 700 schizophrenia patients (300 Zhuang and 400 Han) and 700 healthy controls (300 Zhuang and 400 Han),and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used for clinical symptoms assessment of patients.Statistical analysis was performed using PLINK software.Results rs4633,rs4680 and rs8185002 polymorphisms were not significantly associated with schizophrenia susceptibility in Zhuang or Han population respectively(P＞0.05).After merging Zhuang and Han samples,rs4633(I 2 =0.000,Pmeta =0.040) and rs4680 (I2=0.000,Pmeta =0.014) were significantly associated with the susceptibility to schizophrenia.In addition,haplotype T-A-T was significantly associated with schizophrenia susceptibility (P=0.049).However,these three polymorphisms were not significantly associated with total score,positive scale score,negative scale score and general psychopathology scale score assessed by PANSS(P＞0.05).Conclusion COMT gene rs4633 and rs4680 polymorphisms are involved in the susceptibility to schizophrenia in southern Chinese population.