Schizophrenia and chromosomal deletions within 22q11.2.
Year: 1995
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Recent genetic linkage analysis studies have suggested the presence of a schizophrenia locus on the chromosomal region 22q11-q13. Schizophrenia has also been frequently observed in patients affected with velo-cardio-facial syndrome (VCFS), a disorder frequently associated with deletions within 22q11.1. It has been hypothesized that psychosis in VCFS may be due to deletion of the catechol-o-methyl transferase gene. Prompted by these observations, we screened for 22q11 deletions in a population of 100 schizophrenics selected from the Maryland Epidemiological Sample. Our results show that there are schizophrenic patients carrying a deletion of 22q11.1 and a mild VCFS phenotype that might remain unrecognized. These findings should encourage a search for a schizophrenia-susceptibility gene within the deleted region and alert those in clinical practice to the possible presence of a mild VCFS phenotype associated with schizophrenia. 9 refs.
Source: PubMed Central
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W118592295