Association of CCL11 promoter polymorphisms with schizophrenia in a Korean population

Abstract Background Immunological alterations and dysregulation of the inflammatory response have been suggested to play a crucial role in schizophrenia pathophysiology. Growing evidence supports the involvement of chemokines in brain development, thus many chemokines have been studied in relation with schizophrenia. The C-C motif chemokine ligand 11 (CCL11) has been shown to be related with synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis. Moreover, altered levels of CCL11 have been observed in schizophrenia patients. Therefore, we examined whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the CCL11 in the promoter region contribute to susceptibility to schizophrenia. Methods Four promoter SNPs [rs17809012 (-384T>C), rs16969415 (-426C>T), rs17735961 (-488C>A), and rs4795896 (576G>A)] were genotyped in 254 schizophrenia patients and 405 control subjects using Fluidigm SNPtype assays. Results The genotype frequency of CCL11 rs4795896 (-576G>A) showed significant association with schizophrenia in a recessive model (AA vs. GG/AG, p vs. AA vs. GG, p p p  = 0.0044, p p Conclusion Our results suggest that CCL11 promotor polymorphism is associated with increased risk for the development of schizophrenia in a Korean population.