Genes Yield More Clues to Schizophrenia

Genes Yield More Clues to Schizophrenia
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 5 (HealthDay News) -- A U.S. team has spottednine genetic markers that can increase a person's risk forschizophrenia.
They've also found evidence that the condition can be inherited in whatgeneticists call a "recessive" manner -- inherited from both parents.
"If a person inherits identical copies of these markers from eachparent, his or her risk for schizophrenia increases substantially," leadauthor Todd Lencz, director of research at the Zucker Hillside Hospitalcampus of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Glen Oaks,N.Y., explained in a prepared statement.
The study was published this week in the journal Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences.
"If these results are confirmed, they could open up new avenues forresearch in schizophrenia and severe mental illness" study seniorinvestigator Dr. Anil Malhotra, director of psychiatric research at ZuckerHillside, said in a prepared statement.
For this study, the researchers developed a unique mathematical methodto simultaneously examine genetic information that a person hasinherited from both parents, identifying identical pieces ofchromosomes.
The scientists tested genetic material from 178 people withschizophrenia and a control group of 144 people without the condition.They identified nine regions along the chromosomes that may play a majorrole in triggering schizophrenia when two identical variants are inheritedfrom parents.
Four of these regions contain genes previously linked to schizophrenia.The five other regions are new. Many of the genes in these regions play arole in the structure and survival of neurons.
The researchers found that 81 percent of schizophrenia patients in thestudy had at least one of the recessive markers, compared to 45 percent ofthose in the control group. Almost half the schizophrenia patients had twoor more recessive markers, compared to 11 percent of those in the controlgroup.
More information
Mental Health America has more about schizophrenia.