Association of schizophrenia with the phenylthiocarbamide taste receptor haplotype on chromosome 7q

Paul J. Moberg, Mingyao Li, Stephen J. Kanes, Raquel E. Gur, Vidyulata Kamath, Bruce I. Turetsky

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) taste sensitivity is an inherited trait determined primarily by allelic variation of the tastereceptor gene TAS2R38 on chromosome 7q. Results of prior studies examining the ability to taste PTC in patients with schizophrenia have been mixed because of the difficulties in measuring PTC taste sensitivity behaviorally. In the current study, we examined the TAS2R38 genotypes of schizophrenia patients to determine whether the increased prevalence of nontasters in this patient population was indicative of a specific genetic association. Our a-priori hypothesis was that schizophrenia patients would show an increased prevalence of the nontaster phenotype compared with controls. The genotypes of two nonsynonymous coding single-nucleotide polymorphisms in TAS2R38 were assayed for 176 schizophrenia patients and 229 healthy control individuals, and the two-allele haplotypes were estimated. There was an overrepresentation of the major PTC nontaster haplotype among patients of European descent, relative to control individuals of similar ancestry. Patients and controls of African ancestry did not differ. The PTC nontaster haplotype is a genetic marker that may be used to identify subsets of schizophrenia patients who potentially harbor vulnerability genes in this region of chromosome 7q.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)286-289
Number of pages4
JournalPsychiatric genetics
Volume22
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • genetic, phenylthiocarbamide, schizophrenia, taste

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Genetics
  • Genetics(clinical)
  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Biological Psychiatry

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