Lack of evidence for a genetic association between FGF20 and Parkinson's disease in Finnish and Greek patients
Author
Clarimon, J.; Xiromerisiou, G.; Eerola, J.; Gourbali, V.; Hellstrom, O.; Dardiotis, E.; Peuralinna, T.; Papadimitriou, A.; Hadjigeorgiou, G. M.; Tienari, P. J.; Singleton, A. B.Date
2005Abstract
Background: Fibroblast growth factor 20 (FGF20) is a neurotrophic factor preferentially expressed in the substantia nigra of rat brain and could be involved in dopaminergic neurons survival. Recently, a strong genetic association has been found between FGF20 gene and the risk of suffering from Parkinson's disease (PD). Our aim was to replicate this association in two independent populations. Methods: Allelic, genotypic, and haplotype frequencies of four biallelic polymorphisms were assessed in 151 sporadic PD cases and 186 controls from Greece, and 144 sporadic PD patients and 135 controls from Finland. Results: No association was found in any of the populations studied. Conclusion: Taken together, these findings suggest that common genetic variants in FGF20 are not a risk factor for PD in, at least, some European populations.