Association of neuregulin-1 with schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have paid much attention to the newly found neuregulin-1,which might be closely linked to the molecular genetics of schizophrenia. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of neuregulin-related genes with schizophrenia,and to summarize the advancements in this current research. RETRIEVAL STRATEGY: Using the terms "neuregulins,gene,schizophrenia",we retrieved articles published from January 2000 to June 2007 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.gov,http://www.elsevier.lib.tsinghua.edu.cn,and http://www.cjfd.cnki.net to identify studies addressing the association of neuregulin-related genes to schizophrenia. At the same time,we searched more than 10 medical journals by hand. The languages were limited to English and Chinese. Forty-two manuscripts were obtained and were firstly screened. Inclusion criteria: studies on neuregulins,schizophrenia,neuregulin-1,and the pathogenesis of schizophrenia,including randomized,blinded,and other original studies. Exclusion criteria: studies not related to schizophrenia,or repetitive studies. LITERATURE EVALUATION: The included 42 manuscripts were sorted. Twenty-one were selected as references for this article: fourteen were basic studies,and the remaining articles were case-controlled studies or other. DATA SYNTHESIS: Neuregulins are primarily expressed in the nervous system and heart,and limited expression is also seen in other tissues. . These proteins transmit signals among certain cells and play an important role in normal development of the nervous system. Neuregulin-1 is a typical neuregulin-related gene. Neuregulin genes are closely related to glutamatergic,GABAergic,and dopaminergic neurons. CONCLUSION: Neuregulin-related genes,such as neuregulin-1,are important and promising candidate genes for studying schizophrenia disease. Their roles in the onset of schizophrenia,neuregulin-related gene expression products,and correlations of ErbB receptor to schizophrenia symptoms need to be further investigated. Further studies of neuregulin-1 will hopefully provide powerful evidence for understanding the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.