J Korean Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.  2009 Feb;20(1):3-9.

The Association of COMT Gene Polymorphism and Tourette Syndrome: A Family Based and Case Control Study

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan, Korea. paperose@dku.edu
  • 2Cell Biology Laboratory, Korean Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Korea.
  • 3Department of Diagnostic&Evaluation, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan, Korea.
  • 4Department of Anatomy&Cell Biology, College of Medicine, Dong-A University, Busan, Korea.
  • 5Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Soonchonhyang University, Cheonan, Korea.
  • 6Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Koera.

Abstract


OBJECTIVES
Tourette disorder is known to be a disease with a strong genetic trait. There has been some recent research on the relationship between the allelic frequency distribution and Tourette disorder. In Korea, the relationship between the genetic type and the alleles for the COMT gene has been studied in Tourette patients.
METHODS
Seventy two patients who were diagnosed with Tourette disorder according to the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria were selected for this study. The diagnosis and clinical features were confirmed by the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale. For the control group, the parents of the patients were chosen. Blood samples were taken from the 289 subjects. DNA was extracted from the blood lymphocytes and PCR was performed for assessing COMT gene.
RESULTS
On comparing the Tourette disorder transmitted group and the not-transmitted group, no significant difference was seen between the COMT genetic type and the allelic distribution.
CONCLUSION
Even though this result is viewed that there is no relationship between Tourette disorder and the COMT gene, it is difficult to firmly accept this negative result. Follow up studies with a larger patient population or pure subgroups are expected in the future.

Keyword

Tourette disorder; COMT gene; Polymorphism; Family-based study; Case control study

MeSH Terms

Alleles
Case-Control Studies
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
DNA
Humans
Korea
Lymphocytes
Parents
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Tics
Tourette Syndrome
DNA
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