Objectives-Chromosome 8p21-12 has been identified as a susceptibility locus for schizophrenia based on several genomewide linkage scans with Caucasian families. The purpose of this study is to investigate the linkage of this locus to schizophrenia in Korean families. Materials and Methods-We recruited ninety-one family members from twenty-seven multiplex schizophrenia families. Fifty-nine of them were affected individuals. Seven microsatellite markers of this region with 3cM intervals were genotyped. Non-parametric linkage analysis was performed by evaluating the levels of allele sharing between the affected relative pairs. Results-In the multi-point analysis, all the points tested within this area showed positive but non-significant non-parametric lod (NPL) scores with the peak occurring between D8S1820 and D8S1769. In the single point analysis, statistically significant allele sharing was observed at D8S1769 (NPL=1.65, p=0.049). Higher levels of NPL scores (the highest single point NPL=1.98, p=0.025) were observed when the same analyses were applied to a subgroup of families in which all of the affected individuals showed auditory hallucination. Conclusions-These findings support the previous evidence from Caucasian families for a locus predisposing to schizophrenia at 8p21-12. Further studies designed to screen positional candidate genes and their SNPs at this locus are warranted, in order to identify the specific causative genetic variation of schizophrenia.
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Results
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