MEIS1, a promising candidate gene, is not associated with the core symptoms of antipsychotic-induced restless legs syndrome in Korean schizophrenia patients

Objective Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a distressing sleep disorder to which individuals appear to be genetically predisposed. In the present study, we assumed that antipsychotic-induced RLS symptoms were attributable to differences in individual genetic susceptibility, and investigated whether MEIS1, a promising candidate gene, was associated with antipsychotic-induced RLS symptoms in schizophrenia patients. Methods All subjects were diagnosed with schizophrenia by board-certified psychiatrists using the Korean version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. We assessed antipsychotic-induced RLS symptoms in 190 Korean schizophrenic patients using the diagnostic criteria of the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group. Genotyping was performed for the rs2300478 and rs6710341 polymorphisms of the MEIS1 gene. Results We divided subjects into RLS symptom (n=96) and non-symptom (n=94) groups. There was no significant between-group difference in the genotype or allele frequencies of the two polymorphisms investigated, nor in the frequency of the rs2300478-rs6710341 haplotype. Conclusion Our data do not suggest that the rs2300478 and rs6710341 polymorphisms of the MEIS1 gene are associated with the core symptoms of antipsychotic-induced RLS in schizophrenia; different genetic mechanisms may underlie antipsychotic-induced vs. primary RLS.