Serum Level of Growth-Associated Protein 43 Is Associated with First-Episode Schizophrenia Patients without Antipsychotic Drugs Treatment.

Nerve growth-associated protein 43 (GAP43) is closely related to neural development, axon regeneration, and synaptic reconstruction and is one of the important markers of neuronal damage. Therefore, in our study, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to analyze the serum level of GAP43 protein in schizophrenia patients ( = 188), healthy controls ( = 200), and bipolar disorder patients ( = 200). The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) was used to evaluate the mental status of schizophrenia patients, and the Scale of Social Function in Psychosis Inpatients (SSPI) was used to evaluate the social function of schizophrenia patients.

The SORL1 polymorphism rs985421 may confer the risk for amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease in the Han Chinese population.

Although the pathogenetic mechanisms driving Alzheimer's disease (AD) are unclear, genetic variations may play an important role. Previous studies have identified that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the sortilin-related receptor, L (DLR class) A repeats containing (SORL1) gene are associated with AD or amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients. However, the association of SORL1 variants with AD or aMCI susceptibility in the Han Chinese population has not been adequately reported.