DNA methylation and gene expression of the chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 in patients with deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia.

Highlights • CXCL1 gene CpG sites methylation were significantly decreased in deficit schizophrenia patients. • Increased CXCL1 gene expression was associated with aberrant CpG sites methylation in deficit schizophrenia patients. • CXCL1 gene expression may be associated with negative symptoms in none-deficit schizophrenia patients. • No correlations were found between CXCL1 gene expression and clinical symptoms in deficit schizophrenia patients. • DS might be a specific sub-group within schizophrenia. Abstract This study detected the differences in gene expression and DNA methylation of CpG sites in CXCL1 gene and further investigated their associations with clinical symptoms in deficit schizophrenia (DS) and non-deficit schizophrenia (NDS). Pyrosequencing and RT-qPCR were separately used to determine DNA methylation and mRNA expression of CXCL1 gene. Both DNA methylation and expression were significantly different among DS, NDS and healthy control (HC) groups. Correlation analysis revealed that CXCL1 gene expression was associated with the negative syndrome in NDS patients, while no association in DS patients was observed. All together, these results suggest that DS may be a specific subgroup of schizophrenia with the characteristic abnormality of peripheral CXCL1 DNA methylation and gene expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]