Road Map To Schizophrenia Genetics: A Qualitative Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: The studies that focus on the genetic basis of psychopathologies become increasingly frequent and important. Consequently, genetic markers may be the new instrument to assist the diagnostic accuracy of some complex diseases such as Schizophrenia. Aims: To identify the genes those are involved in the schizophrenia’s etiology and their distribution around the world. Methods: we performed a systematic literature research of studies from January 2004 to august 2014 held by SCOPUS and MEDLINE. The descriptors used in both databases were “genetic markers (medical subject headings [MeSH term])â€, “mutation (MeSH term)†and “schizophrenia (MeSH term)â€. Of the 149 articles found, 39 met the eligibility criteria. RESULTS: Many genetic markers are hypothesized to be linked to Schizophrenia. Genetic studies agree with the clinical observation that schizophrenia is highly heritable but the genetics are complex. Although, some genes such as CAPON, COMT, HUMAN QKI, NR2E1, ProDH and ADRBK2 appears to be frequent in more than one nationality. Conclusion: Therefore, these markers must be studied with larger sample sizes to confirm these promising findings. This study also presents a geographical distribution of the genetic markers around the world with its implications to schizophrenia. Interesting results were observed in the genetic patterns of different ethnicities. However, there remains some doubt about the genes identified and further investigation and wider confirmation are needed as both positive and negative replication studies have been reported in different countries, and it is likely that some initial studies have produced false positives.