Catechol O-Methyltransferase Genetic Polymorphism in Panic Disorder

• Published in: The American journal of psychiatry Vol. 159; no. 10; pp. 1785 - 1787
• Main Authors: Woo, Jong-Min, Yoon, Kyung-Sik, Yu, Bum-Hee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychiatric Publishing 01.10.2002; American Psychiatric Association
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Age of Onset; Agoraphobia - diagnosis; Agoraphobia - genetics; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Catechol O-Methyltransferase - genetics; Female; Gene Frequency - genetics; Genetic Predisposition to Disease - genetics; Genotype; Humans; Korea - epidemiology; Male; Medical sciences; Panic disorder; Panic Disorder - diagnosis; Panic Disorder - epidemiology; Panic Disorder - genetics; Polymorphism, Genetic - genetics; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Treatment Outcome; Korea; Human; Panic; Prevalence; Enzyme; Transferases; Anxiety disorder; Prediction; Sex; Genotype; Catechol O-methyltransferase; Genetic determinism; Family story; Symptomatology; Methyltransferases; Age of onset; Risk factor; Genetics; Severity score; Age; Comparative study; Polymorphism
• ISSN: 0002-953X; 1535-7228
• DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.159.10.1785

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the distribution of catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) genotypes in patients with panic disorder as well as the relationship between a COMT polymorphism and the clinical characteristics of these patients. METHOD: Fifty-one patients with panic disorder and 45 healthy comparison subjects were tested for a genetic polymorphism of COMT. Clinical variables were assessed for the patients with panic disorder. RESULTS: The frequency of the L L genotype was significantly higher in the patients with panic disorder than in the healthy subjects (19.6% versus 2.2%). Panic disorder was significantly associated with the L allele and L L genotype. Patients with panic disorder who had the L L genotype showed poorer treatment response than those with other genotypes. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the L L genotype of the COMT gene may be related to the development and treatment outcome of panic disorder in some patients.