Polymorphism in semaphorin 5A (Sema5A) gene is not a marker of Parkinson's disease risk.

A SNP rs7702187 within the semaphorin 5A gene (Sema5A) has been recently associated with sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD) risk in American Caucasians. In the present study frequencies of rs7702187 was determined in two independent populations involving 427 sporadic PD patients (235 Polish Caucasians and 192 Asians from Singapore) and 412 healthy controls (220 Caucasians and 192 Asians), with the use of PCR-RFLP assay. The frequencies of the minor allele were found to be very similar in PD patients and healthy controls in both populations studied: 0.147 versus 0.143 in Caucasian, and 0.224 versus 0.221 in Asian, respectively. Our research does not confirm the previous observation, as no relationship was found between polymorphism within Sema5A gene and the risk of PD. It can be concluded that rs7702187 SNP in Sema5a gene is not a marker of PD risk in the studied populations.