Polymorphism of Prodynorphin promoter is associated with schizophrenia in Chinese population.

To investigate the correlation between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of functional candidate gene Prodynorphin (PDYN) and schizophrenia. SNPs in the promoter and exon regions of PDYN were screened and genotyped for association study in a cohort of Chinese Han schizophrenia cases and controls. Two SNPs PDYN-1576C>T and PDYN-946C>G were identified in the promoter region but PDYN-946C>G showed significant differences of allele distribution (x2=6.15, P=0.013) and genotype distribution (x2=6.87, P=0.032) between schizophrenic and control subjects. PDYN-946C>G polymorphism demonstrated an association with population susceptibility to schizophrenia.