Study of the possible association of HLA class II, CD4, and CD3 polymorphisms with schizophrenia.

In the present study the HLA-DRB and DPB1 alleles as well as CD4 and CD3 polymorphisms were tested in 100 Belgian schizophrenic patients and 204 controls. Our results indicate a significant negative association of the DPB1 0101 allele with schizophrenia (relative risk [RR] = 0.27). Furthermore a significant positive and negative association could be noticed for the CD4*A4 allele and CD4*A7/A8 genotype, respectively (RR 1.79 and 0.47, respectively). These findings suggest that some contribution of HLA class II and CD4 genes to an autoimmune-like pathogenesis in schizophrenia might exist.