HUMAN DOPAMINE TRANSPORTER GENE NOT LINKED TO SCHIZOPHRENIA IN MULTIGENERATIONAL PEDIGREES

A large body of data suggests that perturbations in brain dopaminergic transmission play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Recent ly, the gene for the human dopamine transporter has been cloned and po lymorphisms have been identified. Because mutations of the dopamine tr ansporter gene might underlie the cause of schizophrenia in a subset o f families, we undertook a linkage analysis between schizophrenia in 9 families and a dopamine transporter gene polymorphism. Evidence of li nkage was not found in most families assuming autosomal dominant or re cessive inheritance.