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Effects of MAOA promoter methylation on susceptibility to paranoid schizophrenia

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Abstract

This study was undertaken to analyze DNA methylation profiling at the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) locus, in order to determine whether abnormal DNA methylation is involved in the development of schizophrenia. We recruited a total of 371 patients with paranoid schizophrenia (199 males and 172 females) and 288 unrelated control subjects (123 males and 165 females) for analysis of DNA methylation. Diagnosis was made based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-VI. Genomic DNA extracted from peripheral blood was chemically modified using bisulfite, and DNA methylation profiles of the MAOA promoter were determined by BSP-sequencing. DNA methylation ratios of individual CpG residues and overall methylation ratios were measured on each subject. The results showed that there was no significant difference in overall DNA methylation ratios between patients and controls either in the female group (P = 0.42) or in the male group (P = 0.24). Of 15 CpG residues that showed significant differences in DNA methylation status between the patient group and the control group in females, eight of which had an increased level and seven, a decreased level, with a combined P value of 1 (df = 160). In male subjects, however, six individual CpG residues showed an increased methylation level with a combined P value of 5.80E−35 (df = 158). In conclusion, abnormalities of DNA methylation at the MAOA promoter may be associated with schizophrenia in males.

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Abbreviations

MAOA:

Monoamine oxidase A

MDD:

Major depressive disorder

ADHD:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

SNP:

Single nucleotide polymorphism

QUMA:

Quantification tool for methylation analysis

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the research grants from the National Basic Research Program of China (2010CB529603, 2012CB517902), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30971001, 31021091), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7102109) and the Fok Ying Tong Education Foundation (121024).

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None declared.

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Correspondence to Qi Xu.

Additional information

The authors Y. Chen and J. Zhang contributed equally to this work.

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Supplementary material 1 (DOC 242 kb)

439_2011_1131_MOESM2_ESM.bmp

Supplementary Figure 1. Detailed positions of two CpG islands and BS-PCR primers in the MAOA genepromoter and exon 1.The primer-annealing sites are depicted by red squares and solid green lines indicate the amplified regions.The exon 1 region is indicated in purple. The VNTR region is represented by light orange (BMP 913 kb)

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Chen, Y., Zhang, J., Zhang, L. et al. Effects of MAOA promoter methylation on susceptibility to paranoid schizophrenia. Hum Genet 131, 1081–1087 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00439-011-1131-5

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