Determination of the GSTM1 gene deletion frequency in Parkinson's disease by allele specific PCR

Abstract

We have examined the occurrence of GSTM1 null, one of the glutathione S-transferase mu genes, in a control and a Parkinson's disease group. By using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) we found 67% of non-expressors compared with 51% in a control group (chi(1)(2) = 5.535; p < 0.025). These results suggest that a deletion of the GSTM1 gene may be associated with a susceptibility to Parkinson's disease.