Study of the tetraspanin 18 association with schizophrenia in a Han Chinese population

A genome-wide association study of Han Chinese samples identified three
single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the tetraspanin 18 (TSPAN18) gene to be
associated with schizophrenia. However, the replication of the TSPAN18
association was inconsistent across studies. To explore the possible reason for
poor replication, we conducted a case-control study to validate the TSPAN18
finding in an independent Chinese sample. The frequency of rs11038167 minor allele (A) was significantly higher only in female patients with thought
disorder. Our result suggested that the TSPAN18 gene may be involved in the
development of psychotic symptoms and contribute to clinical heterogeneity of schizophrenia.