Genetic polymorphisms of complement factor H in schizophrenia and ischemic stroke

Objectives: Alterations in the immune response are involved in pathogenesis of many neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia and stroke. Our recent studies indicated alterations in the complement system, including hyperactivation of the alternative complement pathway in patients with schizophrenia and ischemic stroke. In the present study we investigated functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of gene encoding factor H (CFH), a negative regulator of the alternative complement cascade, in patients with schizophrenia, ischemic stroke, and healthy controls. Methods: Genomic DNA samples of study subjects were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction with sequence specific primers. The distribution of genotypes for the selected SNP was checked for correspondence to the H–W equilibrium. In order to investigate potential association of the selected polymorphisms with schizophrenia and stroke, their allele and phenotype frequencies in patients and control subjects were compared using Pearson’s chi-squared test. Results: According to the results obtained, CFH rs424535 (2783- 526T >A) SNP was positively associated with schizophrenia, while have no association with stroke. On the contrary, CFH rs800292 (184G >A) SNP was positively associated with stroke and no association between this SNP and schizophrenia was found. Conclusions: In summary, we concluded that rs424535*A minor allele of the CFH gene may represent a risk factor for schizophrenia, and rs800912 minor allele of the CFH gene might be considered as a risk factor for ischemic stroke.