Calpastatin gene is not associated with late onset sporadic Parkinson’s disease in Chinese Han population

Objective To explore the association between late-onset sporadic Parkinson’s disease (PD) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of Ca2+ -dependent protease calpain inhibitor calpastatin (CAST) gene in a Chinese Han population. Methods 370 evaluable patients (221 male, 149 female) with PD (mean age 65.2±8.5 years) and 390 neurologically healthy controls (208 male, 182 female) matched for gender, ethnicity, and area of residence. PD cases were identified from the PD cohort of the Chinese National Consortium on Neurodegenerative Diseases (www.chinapd.cn). A total of 24 tag-SNPs were genotyped capturing 95% of the genetic variation across the CAST gene. Results There was no association found between any of the polymorphisms and PD in all models tested (co-dominant, dominant-effect and recessive-effect(P>0.05)). Similarly, none of the common haplotypes was associated with a risk for PD(P>0.05). Conclusion Results show no significant association between the CAST gene polymorphisms and late onset sporadic PD in the present population. Key words: Calpastatin; Parkinson’s disease; Single nucleotide polymorphisms