title: Association analysis of a functional catechol-o-methyltransferase gene polymorphism in schizophrenic patients in Taiwan.
abstract: The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene was thought to be a candidate gene for schizophrenia because of its role in inactivating dopamine. This study examined the relationship between a functional polymorphism (val158met) of the COMT gene, schizophrenia and its associated behaviors. One hundred and ninety-eight Chinese schizophrenic patients and 188 controls were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism. Of the schizophrenic patients, 72 had a history of violence and 62 had a history of suicide attempts. The results failed to show significant association between val158met polymorphism and schizophrenia, violence or suicide. However, our results showed a significant difference in age at disease onset among different genotypes (F = 5.501, p = 0.005).
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Liou
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Y C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: I C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D013624:Taiwan
chemical_list: D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase