title: No association between Val158Met of the COMT gene and susceptibility to schizophrenia in the Syrian population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Val158Met single nucleotide polymorphism of the COMT gene has been implicated in the aetiology of schizophrenia, although results from different populations have been conflicting.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was to investigate possible association between schizophrenia and Val158Met in a novel Arab population from Syria.
  
  
  METHODS
  71 unrelated schizophrenic subjects (45 men) and 102 unrelated healthy controls (62 men) were recruited to take part in this case- control study. The Val158Met of the COMT gene was genotyped for patients and controls, using a new optimized PCR-RFLP method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  the results demonstrated that there is no statistically significant difference between the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study does not support that Val158Met has an influence on susceptibility for schizophrenia in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria.
authors.forename: Bassam
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lajin
authors.forename: Amal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alachkar
authors.forename: Abdul Rezzak
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Hamzeh
authors.forename: Roula
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Michati
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alhaj