Two recent studies have reported conflicting findings of association of a variant in the HOXA1 gene and autism. To try to resolve the conflict in findings, we conducted an association study in 78 Irish families of the reported DNA variants. We did not find statistically significant association between the variants and autism. Similarly there was no evidence of preferential transmission of variants from parent of either sex to affected offspring. We also report negative findings for HOXB1 variants. We conclude that the HOXA1/B1 are unlikely to be the susceptibility genes for autism in our sample.
Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.