Sex-different association of DAO with schizophrenia in Koreans

Kim, Byungsu; Kim, Hyunsook; Joo, Yeon Ho; Lim, Jiyoung; Kim, Chang-Yoon; Song, Kyuyoung

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2008.08.009

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Volume 179, Issue 2 , Pages 121-125, 30 September 2010

Sex-different association of DAO with schizophrenia in Koreans

Byungsu Kim
- Department of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Hyunsook Kim
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Yeon Ho Joo
- Department of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Jiyoung Lim
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Chang-Yoon Kim
- Department of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Kyuyoung Song
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Corresponding author. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Poongnap-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 138-736, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 3010 4277; fax: +82 2 3010 4248.

Received 19 November 2007; received in revised form 29 July 2008; accepted 25 August 2008.

Abstract

The gene encoding d-amino acid oxidase (DAO), which acts as a receptor for the schizophrenia-associated neurotransmitter, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), is regarded as a potential candidate gene for schizophrenia. However, the potential association of the DAO gene with schizophrenia has been the subject of some debate. Here, we tested three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of DAO in a group of Korean schizophrenia patients, and found no significant association in the overall study subjects. Interestingly, however, we found gender-specific differences in allele distributions, with SNP rs2070586 appearing to act as a risk allele in female schizophrenia patients, but as a protective allele in males. Our data support the hypothesis that DAO plays a role in schizophrenia, possibly in a gender-dependent manner.

Keywords: Schizophrenia, d-amino-acid oxidase, Association study, Korean