Interactive effect of MTHFR C677T polymorphism and sex on symptoms and cognitive functions in Chinese patients with chronic schizophrenia

The etiology of schizophrenia is still unknown, and the MTHFR gene has been shown to be associated with SCZ. Previous studies have shown that patients with schizophrenia exhibit sex differences in symptoms and cognitive function. However, no study has been conducted to investigate the sex difference in the association between C677T polymorphism and symptoms and cognitive impairment in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. The C677T polymorphism was genotyped in 957 patients with schizophrenia and 576 controls. Patients were also rated on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). The results showed that there were significant differences in MTHFR C677T genotype and allele distributions between male patients and male controls (both p<0.05), while there was no significant difference between female patients and female controls (both p>0.05). Further analysis showed that there were significant sex differences in the association between C677T genotype and negative symptoms, immediate memory or attention index score in schizophrenia (p<0.05). This study suggests that the complex interactive effect between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and sex plays an important role in some clinical characteristics of patients with schizophrenia.