AN ASSOCIATION STUDY FOR CANDIDATE GENES USING THE HAPLOTYPE RELATIVE RISK (HRR) DESIGN IN A SAMPLE OF EGYPTIAN SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a leading public health problem, with estimates of lifetime prevalence just under I% of the world's population (approximately 0.85%). The etiological process or processes by which a causal agent creates the pathophysiology of schizophrenia is not yet known. The current working hypothesis is that there is an association between schizophrenia and polymorphisms in either one of the dopamine or serotonin receptor genes as these genes are considered candidate loci for schizophrenia since they are the sites of action o antipsychotic drugs. Based on this hypothesis, several studies have been conducted to explore the genetic etiology of schizophrenia. Such studies will lead to the discovery of schizophrenia susceptibility genes. The identification of these genes should yield important benefits such as physically based diagnosis and genotype specific prognosis. Advances in treatment may follow as well through optimizing usage of current medications based on genotype drug response correlations and through rational development of new drugs based on improved knowledge of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.