Variants associated with schizophrenia

Genetic variants associated with schizophrenia in the Han Chinese population are reported in two independent studies published this week in Nature Genetics. The studies consider population-specific differences in comparison to previous studies in European ancestry populations, and highlight new candidate genes associated with this disorder.

Yongyong Shi and colleagues report a genome-wide association study in 3,750 cases, with replication of results from an additional 4,383 cases, all from the Han Chinese population. They identify two genomic loci newly associated with susceptibility to schizophrenia.

In the second study, Dai Zhang and colleagues report an independent genome-wide association study in 746 schizophrenia cases, with replication in an additional 4,027 cases, also from the Han Chinese population. The authors identify one genomic loci newly associated with susceptibility to schizophrenia.