TP53 Polymorphism Contributes to the Susceptibility to Bipolar Disorder but Not to Schizophrenia in the Chinese Han Population.

TP53 has been reported to be involved in diverse neurological processes related to the pathogenesis of psychosis. In this study, we aim to determine the association of TP53 polymorphisms, rs1042522 and rs17879353, with the susceptibility to schizophrenia (SCZ) or bipolar disorder (BD) in Chinese Han population. A total of 548 SCZ patients, 512 BD patients, and 598 healthy controls were recruited. Genotyping was conducted through Sequenom MassARRAY technology platform. The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect TP53 expression level. Results revealed that the allele frequency and genotype distribution of rs1042522 within BD patients were significantly different from those of the controls. Rs1042522 was significantly associated with BD risk under diverse genetic models. However, no significant association was found for rs17879353 and BD risk and for rs1042522 and rs17879353 and SCZ risk. TP53 expression was significantly increased in SCZ patients and BD patients compared with that in the controls but was significantly decreased in BD patients with CC genotype of rs1042522 compared with that in other BD patients with either CG or GG genotype. In summary, we observed for the first time that rs1042522 is significantly associated with BD risk in the Chinese Han population. The increased TP53 expression might affect the occurrence of BD and SCZ, and rs1042522 might affect the progress of BD by disturbing gene expression.