Abstract: Abstract: Objective To investigate the aassociation of a microRNA-137 (miR-137) polymorphism, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1625579, with neurocognitive function in patients with schizophrenia. Methods A total of 250 patients with schizophrenia were included in this study. The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) was used to evaluate patients. The brief assessment of cognition in schizophrenia (BACS) scale was used to determine neurocongnitive functions in patients. Blood samples of patients were collected, and SNaPshot technique was used to compare the neurocognitive functions of different genotypes of rs1625579. Results The genotypes of TT, GT and GG were 221 (88.4%), 28 (11.2%) and 1(0.4%). There was no significant difference in PANSS score between TT genotype carriers and G allele (GG+GT) carriers. The detection of BACS showed that the digit sequencing score was significantly lower in patients with TT genotype than that of G allele (GG+GT) carrier (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in other scores of BACS evaluation between two groups of patients. Conclusion The miR-137 polymorphism influences the working memory performance of schizophrenic patients in Chinese Han population.

Key words: schizophrenia, cognition, polymorphism, single nucleotide, HAN NATIONALITY, miR- 137, rs1625579 polymorphism