Association of reelin gene (RELN) polymorphism with autism spectrum disorder in the Bangladeshi population

Abstract Purpose This study was conducted to detect the two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (g.333509A > C and g.504742G > A) of the reelin (RELN) gene and to detect their association with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the Bangladeshi population. Methods and materials Polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and DNA sequencing were performed to identify the SNPs, and their association with ASD was evaluated in a total of 216 Bangladeshi people, which included 108 autistic patients and 108 healthy participants. Results The alleles and genotype frequencies of g.333509A > C and g.504742G > A showed no significant relationship with ASD (χ2 = 0.603; p = 0.479 and χ2 = 0.274; p = 0.601, respectively). Conclusions Our findings indicate that these two variants of the RELN gene do not seem to be related with ASD in the Bangladeshi population. Therefore, further studies are suggested for identifying the SNPs of the RELN gene responsible for ASD in the Bangladeshi population.