1Neuropsychobiology 2003 -1 47: 178-81
PMID12824739
TitleAssociation analysis of the genetic variants of the N-methyl D-aspartate receptor subunit 2b (NR2b) and treatment-refractory schizophrenia in the Chinese.
AbstractSeveral pieces of evidence showed that N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA)-receptor-mediated decreases in function may be a causative factor for schizophrenia. The NMDA receptors are composed of a common glutamate receptor, an ionotropic NMDA 1 (GRIN1) subunit and one of four GRIN2 subunits (GRIN2A-GRIN2D), combined in an undetermined ratio to make up the receptor complex. In this study, we tested the hypothesis of whether the GRIN2B 366C/G and 2664C/T genetic polymorphisms are related to Chinese treatment-refractory schizophrenic patients. 193 treatment-refractory schizophrenic patients and 176 normal subjects were recruited for this study. The results demonstrated that the genotype distribution was similar between schizophrenic patients and control subjects in 366C/G (p = 0.88) and 2664C/T (p = 0.336), but we found a higher mean clozapine dosage in 2664C/C genotype patients. These results show that GRIN2B genetic variations were not a major risk factor for treatment-refractory schizophrenic patients, but may influence the effect of clozapine during treatment.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
2Neuropsychobiology 2003 -1 47: 178-81
PMID12824739
TitleAssociation analysis of the genetic variants of the N-methyl D-aspartate receptor subunit 2b (NR2b) and treatment-refractory schizophrenia in the Chinese.
AbstractSeveral pieces of evidence showed that N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA)-receptor-mediated decreases in function may be a causative factor for schizophrenia. The NMDA receptors are composed of a common glutamate receptor, an ionotropic NMDA 1 (GRIN1) subunit and one of four GRIN2 subunits (GRIN2A-GRIN2D), combined in an undetermined ratio to make up the receptor complex. In this study, we tested the hypothesis of whether the GRIN2B 366C/G and 2664C/T genetic polymorphisms are related to Chinese treatment-refractory schizophrenic patients. 193 treatment-refractory schizophrenic patients and 176 normal subjects were recruited for this study. The results demonstrated that the genotype distribution was similar between schizophrenic patients and control subjects in 366C/G (p = 0.88) and 2664C/T (p = 0.336), but we found a higher mean clozapine dosage in 2664C/C genotype patients. These results show that GRIN2B genetic variations were not a major risk factor for treatment-refractory schizophrenic patients, but may influence the effect of clozapine during treatment.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
3Psychiatr. Genet. 2005 Sep 15: 215-21
PMID16094258
TitleIdentification of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the human N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit NR2D gene, GRIN2D, and association study with schizophrenia.
AbstractThe glutamatergic dysfunction is one of the main hypotheses for the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors are of major interest because phencyclidine, a non-competitive antagonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, produces a schizophrenia-like psychosis. Therefore, the genes encoding N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunits are strong candidates for schizophrenia susceptibility genes. We focused on the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit NR2D gene in the case-control study of schizophrenia.
We screened for polymorphisms in exons, exon-intron boundaries and the 5' upstream region of GRIN2D by direct sequencing in 32 Japanese patients. Out of the total 13 single-nucleotide polymorphisms identified, we genotyped 200-201 Japanese patients and 219-221 controls for nine common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (minor allele frequency over 0.05).
None of the nine single-nucleotide polymorphisms showed significant differences in genotype and allele frequencies between cases and controls. We observed significant associations of pairwise haplotypes in three combinations of four single-nucleotide polymorphisms, INT10SNP-EX13SNP2, EX13SNP2-EX13SNP3 and EX6SNP-EX13SNP2, with the disease even after the Bonferroni correction (P=1.094 x 10(-6), Pcorrected=2.297 x 10(-5), P=2.825 x 10(-6), Pcorrected=5.933 x 10(-5) and P=2.02 x 10(-4), Pcorrected=4.242 x 10(-3), respectively). The same results were also obtained using the false discovery rate (BL) method at the threshold P value, 2.908 x 10(-3).
We conclude that the GRIN2D locus is a possible genomic region contributing to schizophrenia susceptibility in the Japanese population.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
4Psychiatr. Genet. 2009 Feb 19: 6-13
PMID19125103
TitleAssociation analysis of the glutamic acid decarboxylase 2 and the glutamine synthetase genes (GAD2, GLUL) with schizophrenia.
AbstractAs dysfunction of glutamatergic neurotransmission is one of the plausible hypotheses for the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, genes involved in the glutamate neurotransmitter system are candidates for schizophrenia susceptibility. The aim of this study is to clarify the contribution of two genes encoding glutamate metabolic enzymes: the glutamic acid decarboxylase 2 gene (GAD2) and the glutamine synthetase gene (GLUL), in schizophrenia.
We genotyped 300 Japanese schizophrenia patients and 300 healthy controls for 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GAD2 (approximately 91 kb in size) and six SNPs in GLUL (approximately 14 kb in size). We examined 'single-point' association as well as pairwise haplotype association for all SNPs with schizophrenia.
We observed no significant 'single-point' associations with the disease in any of the 20 SNPs after correction for multiple testing using False Discovery Rate. We also observed no significant haplotype associations with False Discovery Rate. Furthermore, we analyzed gene-gene interactions, including six glutamate receptor genes we have reported previously in the association studies of GRIA4, GRIN2D, GRIK3, GRIK4, GRIK5, and GRM3, using the multifactor dimensionality reduction method. The best interaction model, however, did not show the statistical significance.
These results suggest that GAD2 and GLUL do not play a major role in schizophrenia pathogenesis and there is no gene-gene interaction between the eight genes in the Japanese population.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
5J Psychiatry Neurosci 2009 Nov 34: 450-8
PMID19949721
TitleExpression profiles of schizophrenia susceptibility genes during human prefrontal cortical development.
AbstractDisruption in normal development of the human prefrontal cortex (PFC) may lead to cognitive dysfunction that manifests in individuals with schizophrenia. We sought to identify genes associated with age that are implicated in schizophrenia.
We generated genome-wide expression profiles for the PFCs of humans ranging in age from 1 month to 49 years using the Affymetrix HG-U133 plus 2.0 microarrays (54 675 transcripts). Based on the criteria of significance (false discovery rate [FDR]-adjusted q < 0.001 and r(2) > 0.6), we identified the genes associated with age in the PFC. We then performed functional annotation analyses of age-associated genes using the Gene Ontology and the Genetic Association Database (GAD).
We found robust age-dependent changes in gene expression in the PFCs of humans (2281 transcripts). The GAD analysis revealed that schizophrenia was an over-represented disease class, with 42 susceptibility genes included (p < 0.001, fold enrichment = 1.66, FDR = 1.5%). Among the 42 genes, glutamate receptor genes (GRIA1, GRIK1, GRIK2, GRIN2D, GRIP1, GRM5, GRM7 and SLC1A6) were consistently downregulated across age. We confirmed microarray gene expression changes by the quantitative polymerase chain reaction experiment.
Although numerous genes undergo robust changes in expression during the PFC development, some of the changes may be confounded by known and unknown factors that are intrinsic to the postmortem brain studies.
Multiple schizophrenia susceptibility genes undergo age-dependent expression changes in the human PFC, and any disruption in those genes during the critical period of development may predispose the individuals to schizophrenia.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
6Am. J. Med. Genet. B Neuropsychiatr. Genet. 2011 Dec 156B: 913-22
PMID21919190
TitleAssociation of GRIN1 and GRIN2A-D with schizophrenia and genetic interaction with maternal herpes simplex virus-2 infection affecting disease risk.
AbstractN-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are very important for proper brain development and several lines of evidence support that hypofunction of the NMDA receptors are involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Gene variation and gene-environmental interactions involving the genes encoding the NMDA receptors are therefore likely to influence the risk of schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to determine (1) whether SNP variation in the genes (GRIN1, GRIN2A, GRIN2B, GRIN2C, and GRIN2D) encoding the NMDA receptor were associated with schizophrenia; (2) whether GRIN gene variation in the offspring interacted with maternal herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) seropositivity during pregnancy influencing the risk of schizophrenia later in life. Individuals from three independently collected Danish case control samples were genotyped for 81 tagSNPs (in total 984 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and 1,500 control persons) and antibodies against maternal HSV-2 infection were measured in one of the samples (365 cases and 365 controls). Nine SNPs out of 30 in GRIN2B were significantly associated with schizophrenia. One SNP remained significant after Bonferroni correction (rs1806194, P(nominal) ?= 0.0008). Significant interaction between maternal HSV-2 seropositivity and GRIN2B genetic variation in the offspring were observed for seven SNPs and two remained significant after Bonferroni correction (rs1805539, P(nominal) ?= 0.0001 and rs1806205, P(nominal) ?= 0.0008). The significant associations and interactions were located at the 3' region of GRIN2B suggesting that genetic variation in this part of the gene may be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
7Transl Psychiatry 2011 -1 1: e55
PMID22833210
TitleRare mutations in N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptors in autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia.
AbstractPharmacological, genetic and expression studies implicate N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor hypofunction in schizophrenia (SCZ). Similarly, several lines of evidence suggest that autism spectrum disorders (ASD) could be due to an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission. As part of a project aimed at exploring rare and/or de novo mutations in neurodevelopmental disorders, we have sequenced the seven genes encoding for NMDA receptor subunits (NMDARs) in a large cohort of individuals affected with SCZ or ASD (n=429 and 428, respectively), parents of these subjects and controls (n=568). Here, we identified two de novo mutations in patients with sporadic SCZ in GRIN2A and one de novo mutation in GRIN2B in a patient with ASD. Truncating mutations in GRIN2C, GRIN3A and GRIN3B were identified in both subjects and controls, but no truncating mutations were found in the GRIN1, GRIN2A, GRIN2B and GRIN2D genes, both in patients and controls, suggesting that these subunits are critical for neurodevelopment. The present results support the hypothesis that rare de novo mutations in GRIN2A or GRIN2B can be associated with cases of sporadic SCZ or ASD, just as it has recently been described for the related neurodevelopmental disease intellectual disability. The influence of genetic variants appears different, depending on NMDAR subunits. Functional compensation could occur to counteract the loss of one allele in GRIN2C and GRIN3 family genes, whereas GRIN1, GRIN2A, GRIN2B and GRIN2D appear instrumental to normal brain development and function.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
8Br. J. Pharmacol. 2014 Feb 171: 799-809
PMID24236947
TitleGluN2C/GluN2D subunit-selective NMDA receptor potentiator CIQ reverses MK-801-induced impairment in prepulse inhibition and working memory in Y-maze test in mice.
AbstractDespite ample evidence supporting the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) hypofunction hypothesis of schizophrenia, progress in the development of effective therapeutics based on this hypothesis has been limited. Facilitation of NMDA receptor function by co-agonists (D-serine or glycine) only partially alleviates the symptoms in schizophrenia; other means to facilitate NMDA receptors are required. NMDA receptor sub-types differ in their subunit composition, with varied GluN2 subunits (GluN2A-GluN2D) imparting different physiological, biochemical and pharmacological properties. CIQ is a positive allosteric modulator that is selective for GluN2C/GluN2D-containing NMDA receptors (Mullasseril et?al.).
The effect of systemic administration of CIQ was tested on impairment in prepulse inhibition (PPI), hyperlocomotion and stereotypy induced by i.p. administration of MK-801 and methamphetamine. The effect of CIQ was also tested on MK-801-induced impairment in working memory in Y-maze spontaneous alternation test.
We found that systemic administration of CIQ (20?mg·kg?¹, i.p.) in mice reversed MK-801 (0.15?mg·kg?¹, i.p.)-induced, but not methamphetamine (3?mg·kg?¹, i.p.)-induced, deficit in PPI. MK-801 increased the startle amplitude to pulse alone, which was not reversed by CIQ. In contrast, methamphetamine reduced the startle amplitude to pulse alone, which was reversed by CIQ. CIQ also partially attenuated MK-801- and methamphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion and stereotyped behaviours. Additionally, CIQ reversed the MK-801-induced working memory deficit in spontaneous alternation in a Y-maze.
Together, these results suggest that facilitation of GluN2C/GluN2D-containing receptors may serve as an important therapeutic strategy for treating positive and cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
9Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2016 Mar 50: 275-83
PMID26013316
TitleChanges in cortical N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors and post-synaptic density protein 95 in schizophrenia, mood disorders and suicide.
AbstractIn humans, depending on dose, blocking the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) with ketamine can cause psychomimetic or antidepressant effects. The overall outcome for drugs such as ketamine depends on dose and the number of its available binding sites in the central nervous system, and to understand something of the latter variable we measure NMDAR in the frontal pole, dorsolateral prefrontal, anterior cingulate and parietal cortices from people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorders and age/sex matched controls.
We measured levels of NMDARs (using [(3)H]MK-801 binding) and NMDAR sub-unit mRNAs (GRINs: using in situ hybridisation) as well as post-synaptic density protein 95 (anterior cingulate cortex only; not major depressive disorders: an NMDAR post-synaptic associated protein) in bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and controls.
Compared to controls, levels of NMDAR were lower in the outer laminae of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (-17%, p?=?0.01) in people with schizophrenia. In bipolar disorder, levels of NMDAR binding (laminae IV-VI; -19%, p?GRIN2D mRNA were higher in frontal pole (+22%, p?These data suggest that differences in cortical NMDAR expression and post-synaptic density protein 95 are present in psychiatric disorders and suicide completion and may contribute to different responses to ketamine.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic