Association between Tardive Dyskinesia and Polymorphisms of TNF-alpha Gene in Korean Schizophrenia Patients / 대한정신분열병학회지

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: There are emerging evidences suggest that the development of tardive dyskinesia (TD) is related to the oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, and immune activation. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha genes are associated with the susceptibility of TD and schizophrenia. METHODS: We investigated two hundred and eighty Korean schizophrenic patients. The schizophrenic participants consisted of patients with (n=105) and without (n=175) TD who were matched for antipsychotic drug exposure and other relevant variables. The TNF-alpha gene -308G/A SNPs were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods. RESULTS: The frequencies of genotype (chi2=0.33, p=0.848) of the TNF-alpha gene -308 G/A SNP did not differ significantly between schizophrenic patients with and without TD. The difference of allele frequencies (chi2=0.28, p=0.594) of the TNF-alpha gene between the schizophrenic patients with and without TD were not significant. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the TNF-alpha gene -308 G/A SNPs are not associated with TD and schizophrenia in a Korean population. Further association studies of TD with other candidate genes for cytokines would help us understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of TD.