title: Is catechol-o-methyltransferase gene polymorphism a risk factor in the development of premenstrual syndrome?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to investigate whether there was a correlation between catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) gene polymorphism, which is believed to play a role in the etiology of psychotic disorders, and premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-three women with regular menstrual cycles, aged between 18 and 46 years and diagnosed with PMS according to the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology criteria were included in this study as the study group, and 53 healthy women having no health problems were selected as the controls. Venous blood was collected from all patients included in the study and kept at -18℃ prior to analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of demographic features such as age, body mass index, number of pregnancies, parity, and number of children. No statistically significant difference was observed in terms of COMT gene polymorphism (p=0.61) between women in the PMS and the control groups. However, a significant difference was found between arthralgia, which is an indicator of PMS, and low-enzyme activity COMT gene (Met/Met) polymorphism (p=0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggested that there was no significant relationship between PMS and COMT gene polymorphism. Since we could not find a direct correlation between the COMT gene polymorphism and PMS, further studies including alternative neurotransmitter pathways are needed to find an effective treatment for this disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Harran University, Sanliurfa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Esma Ozturk
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Deveci
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Harran University, Sanliurfa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Adnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Incebiyik
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Department, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Salih
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Selek
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Harran University, Sanliurfa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aysun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Camuzcuoglu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Harran University, Sanliurfa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nese Gul
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Hilali
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Harran University, Sanliurfa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Camuzcuoglu
authors.affiliation: Medical Faculty, Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Emin
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Erdal
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Harran University, Sanliurfa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vural
keywords: Catechol-o-methyltransferase; Etiology; Neurotransmitter; Premenstrual syndrome