BACKGROUND: Sympathetic nervous function abnormalities have long been suggested to be a possible etiology of panic disorder (PD). Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) affects sympathetic activities, and the COMT Val(158)Met polymorphism has been suggested to be related to PD. The authors examined the relationship between sympathetic nervous function and the COMT Val(158)Met polymorphism in PD patients. METHODS: Fifty-eight patients [Val/Val (51.7%) and Met allele carriers (48.3%)] and 58 age-matched normal control subjects [Val/Val (56.9%) and Met allele carriers (43.1%)] were compared in terms of finger skin temperature, which is known to be a useful marker of sympathetic nervous function. RESULTS: A significant COMT Val(158)Met polymorphismxdiagnosis interaction was found. Specifically, the met allele was found to be associated with a lower skin temperature in PD patients. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the COMT Met allele is related to the higher sympathetic nervous function observed in PD. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
BACKGROUND: Sympathetic nervous function abnormalities have long been suggested to be a possible etiology of panic disorder (PD). Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) affects sympathetic activities, and the COMTVal(158)Met polymorphism has been suggested to be related to PD. The authors examined the relationship between sympathetic nervous function and the COMTVal(158)Met polymorphism in PDpatients. METHODS: Fifty-eight patients [Val/Val (51.7%) and Met allele carriers (48.3%)] and 58 age-matched normal control subjects [Val/Val (56.9%) and Met allele carriers (43.1%)] were compared in terms of finger skin temperature, which is known to be a useful marker of sympathetic nervous function. RESULTS: A significant COMTVal(158)Met polymorphismxdiagnosis interaction was found. Specifically, the met allele was found to be associated with a lower skin temperature in PDpatients. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the COMT Met allele is related to the higher sympathetic nervous function observed in PD. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors: A S Howe; H N Buttenschøn; A Bani-Fatemi; E Maron; T Otowa; A Erhardt; E B Binder; N O Gregersen; O Mors; D P Woldbye; K Domschke; A Reif; J Shlik; S Kõks; Y Kawamura; A Miyashita; R Kuwano; K Tokunaga; H Tanii; J W Smoller; T Sasaki; D Koszycki; V De Luca Journal: Mol Psychiatry Date: 2015-09-22 Impact factor: 15.992
Authors: Benedikt Klauke; Bernward Winter; Agnes Gajewska; Peter Zwanzger; Andreas Reif; Martin J Herrmann; Andrea Dlugos; Bodo Warrings; Christian Jacob; Andreas Mühlberger; Volker Arolt; Paul Pauli; Jürgen Deckert; Katharina Domschke Journal: PLoS One Date: 2012-06-22 Impact factor: 3.240