Association study between interleukin-1β gene (IL-1β) and schizophrenia

Abstract

An increasing amount of evidence suggests that the pathophysiology of schizophrenia is associated with the abnormal immune system, and cytokines may be important in schizophrenia. Among these cytokines, interleukin-1β may play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease. In the present study, we investigated the genetic association between a TaqI polymorphism in interleukin-1β gene (IL-1β) and schizophrenia by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis among 132 Chinese families of Han descent. The transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) did not demonstrate an allelic association with schizophrenia. Our results suggested that the TaqI polymorphism in IL-1β gene might not confer increased susceptibility for schizophrenia. © 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.