Serretti Alessandro, Lorenzi Cristina, Mandelli Laura, Cichon Sven, Schumacher Johannes, Nöthen Markus M, Rietschel Marcella, Tullius Monja, Ohlraun Stephanie
Department of Psychiatry, San Raffaele Institute, Vita-Salute University, Milan, Italy.
Neurosci Lett. 2004 Sep 30;368(3):269-73. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2004.06.036.
We previously reported an association of DRD4 exon 3 long alleles with delusional symptomatology, independently from psychiatric diagnoses [Am. J. Med. Genet. 105 (2001) 283; Psychiatry Res. 80 (1998) 129]. The aim of this investigation was to replicate these results in an independent sample from Germany. We studied 394 subjects, affected by bipolar disorder (n = 32), schizoaffective disorder (n = 45), and schizophrenia (n = 317). All affected subjects were evaluated using the Operational Criteria for Psychotic Illness (OPCRIT) checklist. DRD4 variants were not associated with symptomatology of major psychosis. Our present results, obtained in an independent German sample, did not confirm the association between DRD4 variants and delusional symptomatology. However it should be considered that the original sample included a much higher rate of mood disorders and this could partially explain the discrepancy.
