EVIDENCE OF CHROMOSOMAL FRAGILE SITES IN SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENTS

Chromosomal fragility and other chromosomal abnormalities were frequen tly observed in subjects with neuropsychiatric disorders, such as frag ile X syndrome, autism or schizophrenia, but only for the first one th e fragility is accepted to be associated to a specifical pathology, so that it is used as a diagnostic marker. In this study the authors ana lyzed 50 schizophrenic males, searching for the rare fragile sites or other aberrations with the method suitable for fra(X) detection. Chrom osomes from schizophrenic patients resulted more fragile than those fr om normal controls, especially chromosome 9. The authors discuss the i mplications of a possible association of these data with the aetiopath ogenesis of schizophrenic syndrome.