Linkage disequilibrium detected between myotonic dystrophy and the anonymous marker D19S63 in the Spanish population.

We used the following polymorphic markers: APOC2 (BanI, BglI, TaqI), CKMM (NcoI, TaqI), and D19S63 (PstI) to haplotype 33 Spanish myotonic dystrophy (DM) families. We analysed the allele and haplotype frequencies of our sample, and the possible association of alleles or haplotypes with the disease. We found a slight linkage disequilibrium between APOC2 (BanI) and DM, but no disequilibrium when using all other APOC2 and CKMM RFLPs; this agrees with data previously reported. In addition, we found a very strong linkage disequilibrium when using D19S63 (PstI), the + allele being associated with the DM locus. This disequilibrium in the Spanish population indicates that D19S63 is very close to the DM locus.