INVESTIGATION BY LINKAGE ANALYSIS OF THE XY PSEUDOAUTOSOMAL REGION INTHE GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY TO SCHIZOPHRENIA

Background. A susceptibility locus for schizophrenia in the pseudoauto somal region has been proposed on the basis of a possible excess of se x chromosome aneuploidies among patients with schizophrenia and an inc reased sex concordance in affected sib pairs. Several studies investig ating this hypothesis have produced conflicting evidence. Method. In a series of Icelandic and British families, we used lod score and sib p air linkage analyses with markers for the MIC2 and DXYS14 loci on the pseudoautosomal XY region. Results. Lod and sib pair linkage analysis with these markers produced strongly negative scores. Heterogeneity te sting also produced negative results. Conclusion. We conclude that the present study provides no support far the involvement of either the p seudoautosomal region or the nearby region of the sex chromosomes in t he aetiology of schizophrenia.