Evidence of genomic imprinting in families with Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome in Chinese subjects

Abstract

Previous attempts using large multigenerational families to localize susceptibility loci of Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome (GTS) have been unsuccessful ,which primarily due to the complex mode of its inheritance. Recently, several studies reported that genomic imprinting may be involved in the transmission of GTS in caucasion population.In this study, a semi-structured schedule for the genetic research of Tourette syndrome and related disorders was used in the family study of genomic imprinting in 171 probands with GTS. The family data include information from 342 first degree relatives, 1283 second degree relatives and 2310 third degree relatives in addition to probands. Our data suggest that maternal transmission was associated with the symptom of complex motor tics in the proband; P = 0.01. Maternal transmission was more likely to present earlier-onset of the disease than paternal transmission 5.56 + 0.85 Yr; 6.07+1.10 Yr; t = 2.34; P = 0.02. However, paternal transmitted GTS was characterized by the increased attention problem score in CBCL behavioral scale of the proband t = 2.78; P = 0.01. This result indicated that parental specific expression exists in the transmission of GTS, which gives evidence that genomic imprinting may be involved in the inheritance of GTS in Chinese people.