GENOTYPIC ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DOPAMINE TRANSPORTER GENE POLYMORPHISMSAND SCHIZOPHRENIA

Dopamine transporter (DAT) gene variants do not appear to provide wide spread contributions to the etiology of schizophrenia spectrum disorde rs, according to linkage studies [Persico et al., 1995: Am J Psychiatr y 152:134-136]. They may, however, produce modifying effects, more rea dily detectable in specific subpopulations of schizophrenics through a ssociation analyses. We therefore compared polymorphic DAT gene variab le number tandem repeat (VNTR) distributions in 84 controls and 147 pa tients, divided according to DSM-IIIR schizophrenia type criteria. No evidence of allelic association between DAT alleles and schizophrenia or any specific schizophrenia subtype was found, Interestingly, the DA T genotype distribution among schizophrenic patients did display a sta tistically significant departure from the genotype distribution found in controls. Such discrepancies may represent stigmata of assortative mating or may suggest a ''modifying'' contribution of homozygote DAT g enotypes to pathogenetic processes underlying schizophrenia. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.