[Dopamine beta hydroxylase gene polymorphism and Parkinson's disease].

Objective To investigate the correlation between the polymorphism of dopamine beta hydroxylase(DBH) gene and the susceptibility of Shanghai Chinese Han population to Parkinson's disease(PD). Methods Association study was performed in 144 PD patients and 188 healthy control subjects matched for age, sex and origin. Polymorphism of DBH gene was analyzed with polymerase chain reaction restricton fragement length polymorphism. Results The allelic frequency of A2 allele of DBH gene was significantly higher in PD patients than in controls( P 0.01).The risk of suffering from PD increased (OR=1.82) in the individual with A2 allele. And the genotypic frequency of A2/A2 was significantly higher in PD patients(OR=2.11, P 0.01),too. On the other hand, the allelic frequency of A1 allele and the genotypic frequency of A1/A2 genotype of DBH gene in PD patients were significantly lower(A1 alleles: OR=0.54, P 0.01; A1/A2 genotypes: OR=0.45, P 0.01). Conclusion The polymorphism in DBH gene might play an important role in the susceptibility of Shanghai Chinese Han population to PD.