The relationship between DRD2 gene polymorphisms (C957T and C939T) and schizophrenia: A meta-analysis

• The relationship between DRD2 polymorphisms and schizophrenia was analyzed by meta-analysis.
• Thirteen eligible articles involving 3079 schizophrenia cases and 3851 controls were included.
• C957T of DRD2 is associated with schizophrenia risk, but not C939T.

Schizophrenia is a common, complex multi-factorial psychiatric disorder. Many studies have reported associations between the C957T and C939T polymorphisms in Dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene and schizophrenia, but results are inconsistent. To derive a more precise estimation of the relationship, a meta-analysis was conducted to systematically summarize the possibility. We included 13 articles involving 3079 schizophrenia cases and 3851 healthy controls. Positive associations were found between C957T polymorphism and schizophrenia risk in C vs. T (OR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.09–1.46, Praw = 0.002, PFDR = 0.005) and CC + CT vs. TT (OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.25–1.73, Praw < 0.001, PFDR < 0.001). When stratified by race, a significantly increased risk of schizophrenia was observed in Caucasians, but not in Asians. No association between C939T polymorphism and schizophrenia was found in overall or Asian population. Our study suggested that C957T of DRD2 gene polymorphism is likely to be a risk factor for schizophrenia, especially in Caucasian.