Association of the CDH13 gene variant rs9940180 with schizophrenia risk in North Indian population

Background and Objectives: Cadherin13 (CDH13) is an uncommon cadherin family member, lacking a transmembrane domain, and attaches via a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor to the peripheral surface of the cell membrane. CDH13 plays an important role in the development and maintenance of axonal growth cones, synapse morphogenesis, and the embryonic neural tube. Cadherin superfamily genes have been associated with many neuropsychiatric diseases. Studies have shown the Cadherin13 gene as a risk locus for Schizophrenia (SCZ). In this study, we investigated CDH13 gene variants rs7204454 in the promotor region and rs9940180 in the intronic region of the gene with susceptibility to SCZ risk in the population of Jammu region of J&K, India. Methods: The genotyping was performed using TaqMan assay, where 560 individuals, comprising 164 patients and 396 healthy controls, were genotyped. Results: The result of the study suggested rs9940180 was significantly found to be associated with Schizophrenia and the "C" allele of rs9940180 was associated with increased risk for SCZ (P = 0.03817; OR = 1.527; 95% CI, 1.022-2.28) whereas the other variant rs7204454 of CDH13 gene did not show significant association with schizophrenia risk with P = 0.8827, OR = 0.582-1.33 at 95% CI. Conclusion: This is the first report suggesting a significant association of polymorphism at CDH13 rs9940180 with Schizophrenia in the Dogra population group of the Jammu region. The current study offers a piece of important information on the genetic reason for CDH13 in the Jammu population of J&K. Also, it supports the GWAS findings on the correlation of CDH13 in schizophrenia.