Use of Polymerase Chain Reaction nad Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis to Identify Polymorphisms in Three Exons of Dopamine D2 Receptor Gene in Schizophrenic and Delusional Patients

Abstract

The dopamine D₂ receptor gene is a candidate gene for schizophrenia. We screened three exons of this gene for mutations in a large sample of schizophrenics, delusional patients and healthy controls. No structural changes were found, thus suggesting that psychopathology is not related to DNA alterations in the DRD₂ gene.