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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: BACKGROUND, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Adult, Alleles, Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genotype, Humans, Male, Memory, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Psychomotor Performance, Schizophrenia, Schizophrenic Psychology, Transcription Factor 4, Transcription Factors, Verbal Learning.
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Does novel schizophrenia risk gene TCF4 influence verbal learning and memory functioning in schizophrenia patients? Context: Recently, a role of the transcription factor 4 (TCF4) gene in schizophrenia has been reported in a large genome-wide association study. It has been hypothesized that TCF4 affects normal brain development and TCF4 has been related to different forms of neurodevelopmental disorders. Schizophrenia patients exhibit strong impairments of verbal declarative memory (VDM) functions. Thus, we hypothesized that the disease-associated C allele of the rs9960767 polymorphism of the TCF4 gene led to impaired VDM functioning in schizophrenia patients. The TCF4 variant was genotyped in 401 schizophrenia patients. VDM functioning was measured using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Carriers of the C allele were less impaired in recognition compared to those carrying the AA genotype (13.76 vs. 13.06; p = 0.049). Moreover, a trend toward higher scores in patients with the risk allele was found for delayed recall (10.24 vs. 9.41; p = 0.088). The TCF4 genotype did not influence intelligence or RAVLT immediate recall or total verbal learning.
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VDM function is influenced by the TCF4 gene in schizophrenia patients. However, the elevated risk for schizophrenia is not conferred by TCF4-mediated VDM impairment. Final Decision: yes