The present study examined the effects of a functional polymorphism at IL1B gene promoter (?511C/T; rs16944) on brain correlates of working memory performance in schizophrenia. Forty-eight schizophrenia patients and 46 control subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing the n-back task.
In the pooled sample, genetic variability at this locus was associated with differential brain activation in a bilateral frontal region including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. There was also a significant diagnosis ¡Á genotype interaction effect in an overlapping frontal region: the IL1B polymorphism did not affect activation in the control subjects in this area, but the schizophrenia patients who were T carriers showed significantly higher activation than the CC homozygotes.
The findings support a role for IL1B variability in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex dysfunction classically associated with schizophrenia.