Significance of neurexin and neuroligin polymorphisms in regulating risk of Hirschsprung’s disease

By performing a basic case–control study among a Chinese population, the aims of this study were to explore if single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within neurexin and neuroligin were associated with susceptibility to Hirschsprung’s disease (HD). Eleven SNPs within neurexin and neuroligin were selected in this basic case–control study, and this study recruited 210 children with HD and 187 healthy children. The t-test and Χ(2) test were used to find the difference between case and control in their clinical variables. OR and 95% CI were used to assess the association between HD susceptibility and neurexin/neuroligin polymorphisms/haplotypes. Several SNPs were significantly associated with altered risk of HD in the Chinese Han population, including rs1421589 within NRXN1, rs11795613 and rs4844285 within NLGN3, as well as rs5961397, rs7157669 and rs724373 within NLGX4X (all P<0.05). Further studies presented that the effects of rs1421589 within NRXN1, rs4844285 and rs11795613 within NLGN3, as well as rs5961397 within NLGX4X on HD phenotypes were also statistically significant (all P<0.05). Conclusively, the polymorphisms and haplotypes situated within neurexin and neuroligin were markedly associated with the onset of HD, implying that mutations of neurexin and neuroligin might serve as the treatment target for HD for the Chinese children.