© Kamla-Raj 2002                                                                            Int J Hum Genet, 2(1): 33-39 (2002)

Frequency, association and Genetic implications of chromosomal

fragile sites in mental retardation

K.R. Manjunatha,  G.K. Chetan,  R. Arathi,  G.V. Bhaskara  Rao,  P. Latha, 

S. Padma, H.N. Venkatesh,  S. Srinath*,  S.R. Girimaji*  and  S. Sheshadri*.

*Departments of Human Genetics and Psychiatry National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore 560 029, Karnataka, India

Key Words Mental retardation; chromosomal fragile sites; association; genetic implications.

Abstract  Population studies have shown that overall prevalence of mild to severe mental retardation ranges from 2.5 to 5 per thousand. Genetic contribution to this group accounts for 15-30%. The role of chromosomal fragile sites in cancer, recurrent abortions and fertility failure were reported in the literature, which prompted us to look in to the possible causative role of fragile sites with mental retardation. Herein, we discuss the frequency, association and genetic implications of chromosomal fragile sites with mental retardation.

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