Distorted mitochondrial DNA sequences in schizophrenic patients

Recently, Martorell et al (2006) have analyzed the sequence variation of complete mitochondrial genomes in six schizophrenic patients with an apparent maternal transmission of schizophrenia. According to the authors, the patients showed new mitochondrial DNA variants related to the disease outcome. We here show, by employing a phylogeny-based approach, that the published sequences and the resulting conclusions are affected by serious shortcomings.