Schizophrenia is a multifactorial psychiatric disorder which is affected by genetic, environmental, and several other factors. ERBB4 is a gene with polymorphic sites which reported to be associated with schizophrenia. In this prospective study, we have tested the association of schizophrenia with one of the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) called rs1026882 in the ERBB4 gene. We have screened the genotypes of rs1026882 in a case group consisted of 96 schizophrenia patients and 100 healthy controls. All samples were collected from the population living in Malatya-Turkey. First, we compared the distributions of SNP genotypes and alleles between the case and control groups, then between the subgroups of patients defined according to SAPS and SANS parameters and phenotypical outcomes of the disease. Even though there was no significant difference between the case and control groups, comparing the subgroups of patients revealed that, the CC genotype was more common than the CT through the patients showing avolition-apathy symptom (one of the parameters in SANS). In addition, TT genotype was significantly more frequent in the subgroup of patients exhibiting the phenotype of suicidal thoughts.Our study was limited with a relatively small sample size and a population living in a small geographical region. Therefore, screening of rs1026882 genotypes in larger case-control groups from different populations is thought to help to reveal stronger evidence for presence of the association between this SNP and schizophrenia phenotypes. As conclusion, we did not find a direct association between rs1026882 genotype and schizophrenia in general, but the TT genotype was associated with the phenotype of suicidal thoughts, and the CC genotype seems related to avolition-apathy symptom in our sample.
Key words: Schizophrenia, genetic, association, SNP, ERBB4, rs1026882
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