GSK3β reduces risk of sporadic Parkinson's disease in ethnic Chinese

Abstract

Genetic variability of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β) may be linked to Parkinson's disease (PD). Its role in ethnic Chinese population is still unclear. We examined the association between GSK3β variation and PD in a Han Chinese population from mainland China. Using a case-control methodology, we genotyped the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in GSK3β (rs334558) to investigate the association with risk of PD. A total of 1,280 ethnic Han Chinese study subjects comprising 761 sporadic PD patients and 519 controls were recruited. The T allele of a promoter SNP rs334558 was found to reduce the risk of PD (OR=0.82, 95% CI: 0.696-0.960, P=0.014). Patients with CT+TT genotypes have a reduced risk of PD compared to those with CC genotype (OR=0.61, 95% CI: 0.477-0.776, P=6.09E-5). In addition, we demonstrated that CT+TT subjects cannot be distinguished from CC subjects based on their clinical features. Our data suggest that rs334558 variant in GSK3β reduces the risk of PD in a Han Chinese population from mainland China. Further studies of large series of subjects are necessary to fully elucidate the true role of GSK3β in PD. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.