精神疾病 z-bo 2020-09-23 808

　　Mental diseases (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, etc.) are major diseases that plague humans, and they generally have high heritability. In recent years, with the widespread application of genetic analysis, a series of susceptibility genes for mental illness have been reported. Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF, brain derived neurotrophic factor) is a protein synthesized in the brain. It is widely distributed in the central nervous system. It plays an important role in the survival, differentiation, growth and development of neurons, and can prevent Neurons are injured and die, improve the pathological state of neurons, and promote the regeneration and differentiation of injured neurons. A non-synonymous mutation Val66Met in the BDNF gene can affect the secretion and function of the protein, and it has been repeatedly reported to be significantly related to hippocampal function and cognitive ability. Genetic analysis of this mutation in mental illness samples has also been reported many times, but the results are not consistent. Based on this, the laboratory of Li Ming, a researcher at the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, summarized, sorted and re-analyzed the genetic analysis results of Val66Met mutation and two mental diseases (bipolar disorder and depression) that have been published so far. The results of the study found that the Val66Met mutation was significantly associated with bipolar disorder in European populations, while it was not associated with bipolar disorder or depression in Asian populations. This result is also more unexpected than expected, suggesting that the genetic mechanism of BDNF involved in mental illness may be more complicated than imagined. Relevant results were published in "Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews".

　　In addition, through the analysis and analysis of large-scale Asian population data, Li Ming et al. found that there are genetic variants significantly associated with schizophrenia in European populations, and nearly half of the loci in Asian populations are also associated with the risk of susceptibility to the disease. And the relative risk is similar. However, due to the large sample size in the European population, the statistical result (p-value) obtained is more significant than that of the Asian population. The results of this study further suggest that the application of sample size is particularly critical under the method based on p-value to test whether the statistical results are significant. Therefore, extensive cooperation among Asian populations to increase the use of sample size is essential for the discovery of credible susceptibility genes. Very important.