title: Association study of dopamine D3 receptor gene and schizophrenia.
abstract: Several groups have reported an association between schizophrenia and the MscI polymorphism in the first exon of the dopamine D3 receptor gene (DRD3). We studied this polymorphism using a North American sample (117 patients plus 188 controls) and an Italian sample (97 patients plus 64 controls). In the first part of the study, we compared allele frequencies of schizophrenia patients and unmatched controls and observed a significant difference in the total sample (P = 0.01). The second part of the study involved a case control approach in which each schizophrenia patient was matched to a control of the same sex, and of similar age and ethnic background. The DRD3 allele frequencies of patients and controls revealed no significant difference between the two groups in the Italian (N = 53) or the North American (N = 54) matched populations; however, when these two matched samples were combined, a significant difference was observed (P = 0.026). Our results suggest that the MscI polymorphism may be associated with schizophrenia in the populations studied.
authors.affiliation: Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Billett
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Macciardi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verga
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Parsons
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Meltzer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lieberman
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Buchanan
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000235:genetics*; D050637:Receptors, Dopamine D3; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; C493593:DRD3 protein, human; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; D050637:Receptors, Dopamine D3