Analysis of Genomic DNA Alterations in Familial Schizophrenia

August 23, 2007 updated by: National Taiwan University Hospital

Persons with schizophrenia experience imaginary voices, visions and disorganized thoughts, and are handicapped when it comes to social life, which is detrimental to the affected individuals and the community. Although the pathogenesis of this mental disease has not been clearly elucidated, much evidence suggests that inheritance is of major etiological importance and multiple genetic components are implicated. Previous linkage studies of familial schizophrenia have led to the successful identification of numerous susceptibility loci covering many of the human chromosomes, including chromosome 1q, 5q, 6p22, 6p24, 8q21, 13q32, 15q13-14 and 22q11, etc. Necessities for further identification of candidate genes involved in familial schizophrenia by taking a genome-wide approach are listed as follows:

  1. given that multiple genes are responsible for this disease, it is of critical interest to view the complete molecular profiling of schizophrenia's genome;
  2. identification of promising schizophrenia candidate genes by genome-wide scanning will facilitate the development of molecular markers and provide a more objective and effective assessment method in psychotic diagnosis and prognosis;
  3. prevention of the onset of this disorder will be improved by early classification of individuals bearing strong genetic loading for schizophrenia as a high risk population;
  4. making a breakthrough into the investigation of schizophrenia pathogenesis by the characterization of susceptible genes found by genome-wide exploring.

Array-based comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) allows high-throughput genome-wide survey for DNA copy number aberrations, providing a powerful tool for investigating genetic disorders and for developing diagnostic and therapeutic targets. Arrays used in this study consist of approximately 43,000 60-mer oligonucleotide probes that span coding and noncoding regions of the whole human genome with an average spatial resolution of around 35 kb. Furthermore, the sensitivity of these arrays is capable of detecting and mapping regions of single-copy losses, homozygous deletions, and amplicons of various sizes even when using full-complexity genomic samples. In this study, the investigators will conduct an array-based comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) with genomic DNA of many affected members from "schizophrenia families" (the investigators classified families according to the presence or absence of two or more affected members) to identify a set of candidate genes associated with this disease. It is hoped that the results obtained from this study will improve the accuracy and efficiency of psychotic treatment.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

20

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
      • Taipei, Taiwan
        • Recruiting
        • Hai-Gwo Hwu
        • Contact:
          • Hai-Gwo Hwu, Professor
          • Phone Number: 6785 886-2-2312-3456

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 30 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Familial schizophrenia
  • Over 9 years of education

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Taiwan University Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2005

Study Completion

December 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 11, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 11, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 14, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

August 24, 2007

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 23, 2007

Last Verified

September 1, 2005

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 9461700834

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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