Genetics of schizophrenia:: current strategies

Schizophrenia is a disorder consisting of an array of behavioural and psychological abnormalities influenced by multiple genetic loci. Efforts to localize schizophrenia susceptibility genes through linkage strategies or association studies have not arrived at any conclusive results. The lack of success stems in part from the evident complexity of schizophrenia, probably involving the combined action of a number of different genes as well as environmental influences. Furthermore, investigation of one of the major clues to schizophrenia, that is the mechanism of action of typical and atypical antipsychotic medications, has not as yet provided significant insight into the disease pathogenesis. In this review we provide an overview of schizophrenia genetics including genes implicated in the neurodevelopmental model, and N-methyl-D-aspartate system in schizophrenia. In addition we update the reader on the rapidly emerging topic of pharmacogenetics, discussing genes that influence response to antipsychotic medications and development of side effects in schizophrenia. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.