GSK3β Reduces Risk of Sporadic Parkinson's Disease in Ethnic Chinese

Genetic variability of glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK3 beta) may be linked to Parkinson's disease (PD). Its role in ethnic Chinese population is still unclear. We examined the association between GSK3 beta variation and PD in a Han Chinese population from mainland China. Using a case-control methodology, we genotyped the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in GSK3 beta (rs334558) to investigate the association with risk of PD. A total of 1,280 ethnic Han Chinese study subjects comprising 761 sporadic PD patients and 519 controls were recruited. The T allele of a promoter SNP rs334558 was found to reduce the risk of PD (OR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.696-0.960, P = 0.014). Patients with CT + TT genotypes have a reduced risk of PD compared to those with CC genotype (OR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.477-0.776, P = 6.09E-5). In addition, we demonstrated that CT + TT subjects cannot be distinguished from CC subjects based on their clinical features. Our data suggest that rs334558 variant in GSK3 beta reduces the risk of PD in a Han Chinese population from mainland China. Further studies of large series of subjects are necessary to fully elucidate the true role of GSK3 beta in PD. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.