title: No Evidence for Association between Tyrosine Hydroxylase Gene Val81Met Polymorphism and Susceptibility to Tardive Dyskinesia in Schizophrenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is the rate-limiting enzyme in dopamine biosynthesis. Because the TH Val81Met polymorphism is located in the amino-terminal regulatory domain of the tetrameric enzyme, it is a candidate marker for susceptibility to dopamine-related traits. We investigated the hypothesis that TH Val81Met polymorphism can influence susceptibility to tardive dyskinesia (TD) in schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  TH Val81Met polymorphism was analyzed by PCR-based methods in 83 schizophrenic patients with TD and 126 schizophrenic patients without TD, matched for antipsychotic drug exposure and other relevant variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant association of the genotype and allele frequencies determined by the TH Val81Met polymorphism between TD and non-TD patients. In addition, there was no significant difference in terms of total Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale scores among the three genotype groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Within the limitations imposed by the size of the clinical sample, these findings suggest that the Val81Met polymorphism of the TH gene does not contribute significantly to the risk for TD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Heon-Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seung-Gul
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Jung-Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Young-Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Se-Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Min Kyu
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.forename: Seung-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Leen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kim