Polymorphism of the SNAP25 gene is associated with symptom improvement in schizophrenic patients treated with amisulpride

Synaptosomal-associated protein 25 kDa (SNAP25) is a promising candidate gene related to the treatment response to antipsychotics. Thus, the present study investigated the associations between polymorphisms of SNAP25 and the treatment response to amisulpride in patients with schizophrenia. This study enrolled 154 schizophrenic patients from six university hospitals in South Korea. All patients were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) scale at baseline and week 6 of treatment. Additionally, 101 subjects were genotyped for the rs8636 and rs3746544 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of SNAP25. The genotype frequencies of rs8636 SNP significantly differed between responders and non-responders, measured by PANSS total score, in additive, recessive, and overdominant models. These findings suggest that SNAP25 might be a useful marker for predicting the response to antipsychotics. Future studies should include a larger number of subjects, a comprehensive array of SNAP25 SNPs, and functional analyses.