Objective   To investigate gene association with schizophrenia within 13q32 in a Chinese population.

  Methods   Two single nucleot ide poly morphisms(SNPs), rs1886089 at the STK24 locus and rs2892679 at the GPC6 loucs were genotyped in 91 Chinese Han core families consisting of fathers, mothers and affected offspring with schizophrenia.These 2 SNPs were detected with the PCR-based restriction fragment length poly mor phism(RFLP)analysis.The Hardy-Weinber gequilibrium for genotype frequency distributions was estimated by the goodness-of-fit test.The transmission disequilibrium test(TDT)and the haplotype relative risk(HRR)test were applied to process genotyping data.

  Results   The genotype frequency distributions of both rs1886089 and rs2892679 were in the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium(P > 0.05);neither the HRR test nor the TDT analysis showed a genetic association between the two SNPs and schizophrenia; however, rs1886089 was associated with two of clinical symptoms(genuine auditory hallucination and apathy)(χ²=6.005 df=1 P < 0.05;χ²=6.074 df=2 P < 0.05).GPC6 rs2892679 alleles showed association with poverty of thought(χ²=6.094 df=2 P < 0.05).Aapthy and poverty of thought were two negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

  Conclusion   STK24 rs1886089 and GPC6 rs2892679 were associated with three clinical symptoms of schizophrenia.More work should be done about the relation between STK24/GPC6 genes and schizophrenia.