Association between the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene and schizophrenia in the Chinese population.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) belongs to a family of the neurotrophin which plays important roles in the development of the brain. BDNF has been suggested as a factor that increases the risk of schizophrenia. In this study, we genotyped three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the BDNF gene using a set sample of Han Chinese subjects consisting of 560 schizophrenes and 576 controls. No significant differences were found for either the genotype or allele distribution of analyzed polymorphisms, nor was any gender-specific association found. Thus, our data suggest that the BDNF gene may not be an important factor in susceptibility to schizophrenia.