A Study on the Association between Polymorphism in Dopamine D_4 Receptor Gene and Psychiatric Diseases

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Dopaminergic system are assumed to play an important role in the etiology and the pathophysiology of many psychiatric diseases. Among five types of human dopamine receptors, cDNA polymorphism with repeated sequences has been demonstrated in D_4 receptor gene. The purpose of this syudy is 1) to establish an easy method to determine the polymorphism in D_4 receptor gene using white blood cell DNA,and 2) to investigate the association between the polymorphism and psychiatric diseases.In 1993, amplification of D_4 receptor gene was conducted with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method using three sets of primers. Specific amplification of D_4 receptor was unsuccessful because many other genes were amplified simultaneously. Survey of the relevant literatures showed that D_4 receptor gene is one of the most difficult one to be amplified by PCR.In 1994, single band in the electrophoresis of PCR products was obtained with many technical improvement and PCR condition adjustment. The band probably represent the intended D_4 receptor gene because the band showed the same electrophoretic Pattern as that of D_4 receptor gene when digested by two different restriction enzymes. Therefore, the D_4 receptor gene is easily amplified with PCR method under the condition determined here. Now, the association between D_4 receptor gene polymorphism and psychiatric diseases is being investigated with the above method.