Polymorphisms in LMNA and near a SERPINA13 gene are not associated with cognitive performance in Chinese elderly males without dementia.

Aging is associated with cognitive deterioration. A recent study showed two polymorphisms (rs505058 in LMNA and rs11622883 near a SERPINA13 gene), identified in a genome-wide association study of late-onset Alzheimer's disease, to be associated with cognitive function (Mini Mental State Examination) in a UK elderly population. This study replicated these findings in Chinese elderly males without dementia.

Relapse and long-acting injectable risperidone: a 1-year mirror image study with a national claims database in Taiwan.

Objectives: The development of long-acting, injectable atypical antipsychotics has provided a new paradigm for schizophrenia treatment. The study was designed to assess whether a risperidone long-acting injection (RLAI) is associated with reduced relapses and service utilization in the real world.

Methods: The Psychiatric Inpatients Medical Claims dataset was used for the analysis.

TGF-beta1 blockade of microglial chemotaxis toward Abeta aggregates involves SMAD signaling and down-regulation of CCL5.

Background: Overactivated microglia that cluster at neuritic plaques constantly release neurotoxins, which actively contribute to progressive neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Therefore, attenuating microglial clustering can reduce focal neuroinflammation at neuritic plaques. Previously, we identified CCL5 and CCL2 as prominent chemokines that mediate the chemotaxis of microglia toward beta-amyloid (Abeta)aggregates.

Haplotype analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFA) gene and antidepressant treatment response in major depressive disorder.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been implicated in neurotrophy and neurogenesis, which play a pivotal role in brain development and may be involved in antidepressant therapeutic mechanisms. Recent animal studies demonstrate that VEGF levels are increased by several antidepressants, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and that VEGF signalling is required for antidepressant-induced behavioural response. We hypothesized that common genetic variants in the VEGF gene (official gene name: VEGFA) may be associated with the therapeutic response to antidepressants in major depressive disorders (MDD).

Enlargement of Abeta aggregates through chemokine-dependent microglial clustering.

The number of microglia surrounding senile plaques is correlated with the size of plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is unclear whether more microglia are passively recruited toward larger senile plaques or, conversely, microglia recruited to senile plaques directly contribute to the growth of plaques. In this study, BV-2 microglia were used to delineate the role of microglia in the growth of plaques using time-lapse recording.

Tryptophan hydroxylase 2 gene is associated with major depression and antidepressant treatment response.

Tryptophan hydroxylase-2 (TPH2) is the rate-limiting biosynthetic isoenzyme for serotonin that is preferentially expressed in the brain and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of major depressive disorder (MDD) and in the mechanism of antidepressant action. This study aimed to investigate whether common genetic variation in the TPH2 gene is associated with MDD and therapeutic response to antidepressants in a Chinese population. A total of 508 MDD patients and 463 unrelated controls were recruited.

Interleukin-1 beta (C-511T) genetic polymorphism is associated with cognitive performance in elderly males without dementia.

Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), a proinflammatory cytokine, plays a significant role in age-related changes in long-term potentiation (a biological substrate for learning and/or memory) in the hippocampus of experimental animals. This study tests the hypothesis that a biallelic functional polymorphism in the promoter region (position-511) (rs16944) of the IL-1 beta gene is associated with cognitive performance in elderly males without dementia. A total of 161 elderly male subjects without major psychiatric disorders or dementia participated in this research.

Is dysfunction of the tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)-plasmin pathway a link between major depression and cardiovascular disease?

Epidemiological, genetic and clinical studies have demonstrated an association between major depressive disorder (MDD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). For example, MDD is a risk factor for the development of CVD, while around one fifth of patients with CVD have MDD and a significantly larger percentage have subsyndromal symptoms of depression. Furthermore, patients with CVD and depression have an increased risk of future cardiac events compared to similar cohorts without depression, independent of baseline cardiac dysfunction.

Association study of polymorphisms in the mitochondrial aspartate/glutamate carrier SLC25A12 (aralar) gene with schizophrenia.

Aralar is a mitochondrial calcium-regulated aspartate-glutamate carrier mainly distributed in brain and skeletal muscle, and involved in the transport of aspartate from mitochondria to the cytosol of a cell. Studies have shown that the brain N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) levels are greatly decreased in aralar-deficient mice, suggesting that aralar plays an important role in the synthesis of NAA in neuronal cells. Since magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies have revealed consistently reduced NAA levels in various brain regions of schizophrenic patients and their unaffected relatives, genes that affect aralar levels or NAA metabolism in the brain may be implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

Association study of adenosine A2a receptor (1976C>T) genetic polymorphism and mood disorders and age of onset.

Evidence suggests that the adenosine A2a receptor (A2aAR) may be implicated in the pathogenesis of mood disorders. We tested the hypothesis that the A2aAR 1976C>T genetic variant confers susceptibility to mood disorders by comparing 192 mood disorder patients and 216 normal controls. The distribution of the A2aAR genotypes and alleles did not differ significantly comparing the two groups, suggesting that it is unlikely that the A2aAR 1976C>T polymorphism plays a major role in the development of mood disorders.

Family-based association study between G72/G30 genetic polymorphism and schizophrenia.

Genetic variations in G72/G30 have been reported to be associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders in several case-control studies. This gene is located in a genomic region known to contain susceptibility genes for schizophrenia. As case-control studies carry an increased risk of confounding through population stratification, we investigate whether the rs947267 (A/C) polymorphism is associated with schizophrenia in a family-based association study.

X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) C--116G polymorphisms in bipolar disorders and age of onset.

X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1), a critical gene in the endoplasmic reticulum stress response, is located on chromosome 22q12, which has been linked with bipolar disorders in several studies. Recently, associations have been reported between a polymorphism (-116C --> G) in the promoter region of XBP1, and bipolar disorders in both case-control study and family-based association study, however, this finding is not yet confirmed by other research using independent sample populations. To replicate this finding and determine the association between onset age of bipolar disorders and the XBP1 C--116G polymorphism, we investigated the prevalence of this polymorphism in a Chinese population (153 bipolar disorder patients and 174 controls).