title: Dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) haplotypes in Caucasians.
abstract: The human dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) is considered a candidate gene for neuro-psychiatric diseases. We typed three new DNA sequence variants in DRD2 intron 4, intron 6 and exon 8, in combination with the known TaqI A restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and exon 7 311Ser/Cys in 106 unrelated psychiatrically healthy Caucasians. Based on the genotypic data we delineated 10 distinct DRD2 haplotypes and their genetic relationship. Our data provide evidence that the Taq A1 allele and the 311Cys variant are components of different groups of haplotypes though both variants have been speculated to be associated with alcoholism or schizophrenia in recent studies. Therefore we conclude that the prior knowledge of the frequencies and genetic relationships of DRD2 haplotypes will lead to the selection of more suitable intragenic markers for future association studies.
authors.affiliation: AG Molekulare Neurobiologie, Institut für Neuropsychopharmakologie, Universitätsklinikum Benjamin Franklin, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Finckh
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giraldo-Velasquez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pelz
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sander
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rommelspacher
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rolfs
mesh_terms: D005787:Gene Frequency; D005819:Genetic Markers; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000235:genetics*; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2