FURTHER-STUDIES ON A MALE MONOZYGOTIC TRIPLET WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA - CYTOGENETICAL AND NEUROBIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENTS IN THE PATIENTS AND THEIR PARENTS

We previously described a Swedish set of male schizophrenic monozygoti c triplets. In this study the patients as well as their parents were f urther characterized. By high-resolution chromosomal analysis an extra band at chromosome 15p was found in all the triplets and the father. Microdissection, degenerate oligonucleotide-primed PCR (DOP-PCR) ampli fication and reverse painting indicates that the extra band probably c ontains only repetitive DNA sequences with no known effect on the phen otype. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed similar borderline vent ricular enlargement and widened subarachnoid spaces over frontoparieta l and basal regions as well as around the pituitary gland (empty sella ) in all the triplets. The father also had widened subarachnoid spaces over the frontal and basal regions. The mother had an empty sella ind icating widened subarachnoid spaces. All the boys also had a right-sid ed conductive hearing defect, probably due to malformation and fixatio n of the ossicular chain. The parents did not present any otological a bnormalities. Neuropsychological assessment demonstrated similar marke d reductions of attentional, mnestic, and executive functions in all t he triplets, but the mother showed a normal pattern. Possible joint et iological mechanisms for the psychological and somatic abnormalities r ecorded in the triplets are discussed.