No association between ADRA2A polymorphisms and schizophrenia.

There is evidence to suggest that the alpha(2A)-adrenergic receptor may be involved in schizophrenia. With attention directed at the upstream regulatory region of the gene which codes for this receptor (ADRA2A), we proposed that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within this region influences susceptibility to schizophrenia by altering the expression of this receptor. We opted to test for an influence on susceptibility by association study using 112 schizophrenic/schizoaffective disorder patients and 159 controls. The region of interest was screened for SNPs using a combination of bioinformatic searches and sequencing. A total of nine SNPs were discovered, of which four (-5972-G/A, -2211-A/T, -1291-C/G and -261-G/A) were genotyped in the entire clinical sample. No associations were evident, suggesting no influence for these SNPs in susceptibility to schizophrenia.