THE GLY GLU POLYMORPHISM OF THE NEUROTROPHIN 3 GENE - ALLELE FREQUENCIES IN A CAUCASIAN POPULATION AND RELEVANCE FOR PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDERS/

USING a modified method for the determination of the genotype of the n eurotrophin 3 Gly/Glu polymorphism by PCR, we investigated allele freq uencies in patients suffering from different psychiatric diseases as w ell as in healthy controls. There was a much lower frequency of the al lele Glu among Caucasians (0.006) than previously reported for a Japan ese population (0.203). No homozygotes and only three heterozygotes fo r the rare allele could be detected: the latter belonged to the patien t group and suffered from endogenous depression (two patients) and heb ephrenia (one patient). Due to its very low frequency it seems unlikel y that the allele Glu plays a decisive role in the aetiopathogenesis o f schizophrenic psychoses or other psychiatric diseases. However, it c annot be excluded that it represents a risk or vulnerability factor.