Association Study of Functional Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Gene Polymorphism in Korean Schizophrenia / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: Catechol-O-methyltransferase(COMT) is involved in the degradation of catecholamine neurotransmitters and has been investigated as a candidate gene in schizophrenia. Recently, possible relationship between functional COMT gene polymorphism and schizophrenia has been suggested. To address the possible role of functional COMT gene polymorphism in the predisposition to schizophrenia, we carried out an association study in Korean schizophrenic patients and controls. METHODS: One hundred and three Korean inpatients diagnosed as schizophrenia and 103 age and sex matched controls were selected as study subjects. Patients were subgrouped into two groups on the basis of history of aggressive behavior, family history of schizophrenia and related disorders, and age at onset. We determined COMT genotypes using PCR of the relevant region followed by digestion with NlaIII and electrophoresis. RESULTS: No significant differences of allele and genotype frequencies were noted between patients and controls. However, when patients were categorized by the presence of family history of schizophrenia and related disorders, patients with family history showed almost 4-fold higher frequency of having COMT L allele containing genotype compared to controls(p=0.02, OR=3.9, 95% CI=1.10-14.33). CONCLUSION: Although our results do not support an association between functional polymorphism of COMT gene and schizophrenia overall, the findings suggest an association between functional COMT gene polymorphism and familial schizophrenia. Further studies with large samples are needed to confirm this association.

A Preliminary Study for the Validation of the Korean Version of Psychogeriatric Assessment Scale / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to develop the Korean version of the Psychogeriatric Assessment Scale(PAS-K), a multidimensional screening tool for the dementia and depression. METHODS: Through three times preliminary trials, the authors translated PAS into Korean. The PAS-K, Geriatric Depression Scale, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hachinski Ischemic Scale and Mini-Mental State Examination-Korean version were administered to 291 subjects over the age of 60 and the same number of their informants(67 subjects were institutionalized, 168 subjects were in community, 58 subjects were psychiatric hospital patients). And the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS-III-R) was independently administered to exactly diagnose dementia and depression. The reliability and validity test, optimal cut-off point estimation for six each scale and ROC curve analyses were done to investigate the diagnostic validity of PAS-K. RESULTS: Internal consistency and interrater reliability of the PAS-K were high. Concurrent validity of each scales of PAS-K was good in being measured with other standardized scales. The optimal cut-off points of each scale of the PAS-K were estimated as follows: 1) Stroke Scale of subject interview: 1, 2) Cognitive Impairment Scale of subject interview: 10, 3) Depression Scale of subject interview: 5, 4) Stroke Scale of informant interview: 1, 5) Cognitive Decline Scale of informant interview: 3, and 6) Behavioral Change Scale of informant: 2. CONCLUSIONS: The PAS-K was valid and reliable screening tools for detecting dementia and depression. Therefore the PAS-K could be widely and extensively used in psychogeriatric epidemiological research or clinical setting of primary screening for dementia and depression.