Am J Psychiatry 1996; 153:107-109
Copyright © 1996 by American Psychiatric Association
Linkage study of the D5 dopamine receptor gene (DRD5) in multiplex Icelandic and English schizophrenia pedigrees
G Kalsi, R Sherrington, BS Mankoo, J Brynjolfsson, T Sigmundsson, D Curtis, T Read, P Murphy, R Butler, H Petursson and HM Gurling
Department of Psychiatry, University College London Medical School, U.K.
OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the possibility that genetic variation
or mutation of the dopamine D5 receptor gene might modify susceptibility to
schizophrenia. METHOD: Twenty-three Icelandic and English pedigrees
containing multiple cases of schizophrenia were genotyped by using a highly
informative microsatellite for the D5 dopamine receptor gene DRD5. RESULTS:
By means of three different affection models, negative lod scores were
obtained under assumptions of autosomal dominant and recessive inheritance.
There was no evidence for locus heterogeneity. Nonparametric extended
relative pair analysis also produced negative results. CONCLUSIONS: These
data indicate that mutations of the D5 dopamine receptor gene are not a
major cause of schizophrenia in these pedigrees. Because of the probable
existence of locus heterogeneity, the D5 receptor gene may be of etiologic
importance in other families with schizophrenia.
