[Schizophrenic psychoses and HLA antigens. Personal data and review of the literature]

Abstract

Genetic factors play probably an important part in the development of schizophrenic psychoses. As a consequence the use of a genetic marker as the HLA system appears to be interesting in determining the disease susceptibility gene of these psychoses. Methods and results of an investigation about the frequencies of 33 HLA alleles observed in 51 patients considered as paranoid schizophrenics are presented. The frequency of HLA-A 29 was diminished while the one of HLA-B 15 was increased but the differences were no longer significant when p was corrected. However when all the results published from 1974 to 1980 were pooled in a combined statistical analysis, some associations became significant. It seems that schizophrenia as a whole, once paranoid and hebephrenic sub-types have to be distinguished. It may be concluded from these data that correlations between schizophrenia and HLA antigens which remain doubtful could be explained with a biological genetic heterogeneity of schizophrenic disorders. Review of literature concerning the identification of HLA haplotypes in schizophrenics pedigrees and about the HLA system as a genetic marker for the clinical response to neuroleptics in schizophrenic patients or in vitro, is also discussed.