Erratum: Functional –1149 G/T Polymorphism of the Prolactin Gene in Schizophrenia

<i>Background:</i> Prolactin in schizophrenia is considered in the context of antipsychotic drug-induced hyperprolactinemia. However, the European First Episode Schizophrenia Trial showed that hyperprolacti nemia occurred in a significant proportion of drug-naïve first-episode schizophrenia patients, which shows that it may also be caused by other factors, including genetic predisposition. Therefore, we investigated the functional polymorphism of the prolactin gene in schizophrenic patients compared with control subjects. <i>Method:</i> The experimental group consisted of 403 patients with schizophrenia: 202 females and 201 males. The control group consisted of 653 subjects: 377 females and 276 males. The functional polymorphism –1149 G/T (rs1341239) of the prolactin gene was genotyped using the TaqMan single-nucleotide polymorphism allelic discrimination method. <i>Results:</i> The distribution of genotypes in schizophrenic patients was significantly different from those of the control subjects (p = 0.031). After breaking down by gender, for male patients, the difference versus control males was significant for both genotypes and alleles (p = 0.031 and p = 0.002, respectively), with allele G being observed more frequently in schizophrenic patients. <i>Conclusion:</i> The results may suggest a possible abnormality of the functional –1149 G/T polymorphism of the prolactin gene in schizophrenia, especially in male patients, similar to that found in autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. This could also correspond with an autoimmune pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

**背景**：精神分裂症相关催乳素（prolactin）的研究多围绕抗精神病药物诱导的高催乳素血症（antipsychotic drug-induced hyperprolactinemia）展开。然而，欧洲精神分裂症首次发作试验（European First Episode Schizophrenia Trial）显示，相当比例的未用药（drug-naïve）首次发作精神分裂症患者已出现高催乳素血症，提示该病症的发生或与遗传易感等其他因素相关。为此，本研究对比分析精神分裂症患者与健康对照人群的催乳素基因功能多态性特征。
**方法**：实验组纳入403名精神分裂症患者，其中女性202例、男性201例；对照组纳入653名健康受试者，其中女性377例、男性276例。采用TaqMan单核苷酸多态性等位基因鉴别法，对催乳素基因–1149 G/T（rs1341239）这一功能多态位点进行基因分型。
**结果**：精神分裂症患者的基因型分布与健康对照人群存在显著差异（p=0.031）。按性别分层分析后可见，男性患者组与男性对照组相比，基因型与等位基因分布均存在显著差异（分别为p=0.031和p=0.002），且等位基因G在精神分裂症患者中的检出频率更高。
**结论**：本研究结果提示，催乳素基因–1149 G/T功能多态性可能与精神分裂症存在关联，尤其在男性患者中，这一现象与系统性红斑狼疮（systemic lupus erythematosus）、类风湿关节炎（rheumatoid arthritis）等自身免疫病中的发现类似，或可为精神分裂症的自身免疫发病机制提供佐证。