Abstract
The MIR137 gene encodes microRNA-137 (miR-137), which is a brain-enriched miR that is highly expressed in various brain regions. miR-137 has been identified as a modulator of processes involved in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders. Functional polymorphism of variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) rs58335419 was found in the regulatory region of the MIR137 gene. It is associated with a change in the expression of miR-137 and, as a result, with an increased risk of developing psychopathologies, including schizophrenia. In this study, we for the first time have analyzed the distribution of frequencies of alleles and genotypes of MIR137 VNTR in a large sample from the Russian population. The association of VNTR with the risk of schizophrenia has been studied. It was found that the presence of VNTR alleles with more than three repeats, as well as a genotype homozygous for such alleles, is associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia (OR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.01–1.95).
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research ethics committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the Mental Health Research Centre no. 98 dated September 11, 2007.
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Korovaitseva, G.I., Oleichik, I.V., Lezheiko, T.V. et al. A Study of Association of the MIR137 VNTR rs58335419 with Schizophrenia. Russ J Genet 60, 192–198 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1134/S102279542402008X
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S102279542402008X