MISMATCH PCR RFLP DETECTION OF DRD2 SER311CYS POLYMORPHISM AND SCHIZOPHRENIA

We tested 100 schizophrenics and 100 controls to find association at t he Serine311Cysteine polymorphism of dopamine D2 receptor in Japanese population. There were no significant differences between the two grou ps. One homozygote for Cys311 was confirmed in the controls by mismatc h-polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length ofpolymorp hism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. None with Cys was detected among 61 individu als of nine multiply affected families with schizophrenia. Our data th us provide strong evidence against an etiological association between schizophrenia and the Ser311Cys variant. The polymerase chain reaction amplification of specific alleles (PASA) analysis was compared with t he mismatch PCR-RFLP typing, revealing that the latter is more reliabl e than the former. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.