FURTHER EVIDENCE FOR AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SCHIZOPHRENIA AND THE HLADQB1 GENE LOCUS

A case-control study was conducted in Singapore, in order to examine a proposed association between schizophrenia and the HLA DQB1 gene locu s. The probands were male inpatients of Chinese ethnicity with schizop hrenia (ICD-10 criteria, n = 102) and the controls were adults matched for gender and ethnicity (n = 111). Polymorphisms of the HLA DQB1 gen e were examined using molecular typing by reverse dot-blotting (MTRB), a novel PCR based method. Among the patients, a positive association with HLA DQB10303 (odds ratio 4.46, C.I. 1.63, 12.17), as well as a n egative association with HLA DQBI0602 (odds ratio 0.22, C.I. 0.18, 0. 83) was detected.