LAUSR

schizophrenia carried the rs2717 A/G genotype when compared with healthy control subjects (p = 0.01); with respect to rs6926279, a significant lower proportion of subjects suffering from schizophrenia carried the C/T genotype when compared with healthy control subjects (p = 0.02). About the EPM2A gene, we found a lower proportion of subjects suffering from schizophrenia carried the rs702304 G/A genotype compared to the healthy subjects (p = 0.02). Finally, the G/G genotype and the G allele of rs2235481 were found in a greater proportion of schizophrenia patients compared to the healthy controls (p < 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively). No further significant difference was observed between the two groups concerning the remaining genotype and allelic frequencies. With regard to the influence of the investigated polymorphisms on clinical improvement, repeated-measure ANOVA showed a significant effect of rs1415744 within the EPM2A gene and clinical improvement in the PANSS negative subscale (p = 0.02). The results remained the same after inclusion of the covariates and were partially confirmed in the allelic and haplotype analyses. Conclusion: Our preliminary findings suggest that rs2717 and rs6926279 within the NMBR gene and rs702304 and rs2235481 within the EPM2A gene could be associated with schizophrenia susceptibility. Further, the investigated EPM2A gene variants could be associated with the antipsychotic response of negative symptomatology. Nonetheless, further research is needed to confirm our findings.