A Comparison of Personality Characteristics and Psychiatric Symptomatology between Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the personality characteristics of patients with upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS) and those of patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). METHODS: Eighty-eight patients with UARS and 365 patients with OSAS participated. All patients had a diagnostic full-night attended polysomnography (PSG) and completed the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Symptom Checklist-90-Revision (SCL-90-R) and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). RESULTS: The UARS group scored significantly higher than the OSAS group on the ESS, AIS, and PSQI (p<0.001). The scores of all SCL-90-R subscales in the UARS group were significantly higher than those in the OSA group (all p<0.001, except for somatization, p=0.016). Patients with UARS scored lower on EPQ-E (extroversion/introversion) (p=0.006) and EPQ-L (lie) (p<0.001) than those with OSA. UARS patients also showed higher scores on EPQ-P (psychoticism) (p=0.002) and EPQ-N (neuroticism) (p<0.001) than OSAS patients. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that patients with UARS have worse subjective sleep quality than OSAS patients in spite of their better PSG findings. UARS patients tend to have more neurotic and sensitive personalities than patients with OSAS, which may be a cause of the clinical features of UARS.

Association between Tardive Dyskinesia and Polymorphisms of TNF-alpha Gene in Korean Schizophrenia Patients / 대한정신분열병학회지

OBJECTIVES: There are emerging evidences suggest that the development of tardive dyskinesia (TD) is related to the oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, and immune activation. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha genes are associated with the susceptibility of TD and schizophrenia. METHODS: We investigated two hundred and eighty Korean schizophrenic patients. The schizophrenic participants consisted of patients with (n=105) and without (n=175) TD who were matched for antipsychotic drug exposure and other relevant variables. The TNF-alpha gene -308G/A SNPs were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods. RESULTS: The frequencies of genotype (chi2=0.33, p=0.848) of the TNF-alpha gene -308 G/A SNP did not differ significantly between schizophrenic patients with and without TD. The difference of allele frequencies (chi2=0.28, p=0.594) of the TNF-alpha gene between the schizophrenic patients with and without TD were not significant. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the TNF-alpha gene -308 G/A SNPs are not associated with TD and schizophrenia in a Korean population. Further association studies of TD with other candidate genes for cytokines would help us understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of TD.

Association of the RORA Gene Polymorphism and Seasonal Variations in Mood and Behavior / 수면정신생리

OBJECTIVES: Several evidence has been suggested that the circadian gene variants contribute to the pathogenesis of seasonal affective disorder. In this study, we aimed to investigate the polymorphism in RORA (Retinoid-related orphan receptor A) gene in relation to seasonal variations among healthy young adults in Seoul, Korea. METHODS: A total of 507 young healthy adult subjects were recruited by advertisement. Seasonal variations were assessed by the Seasonality Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ). Single-nucleotide polymorphism in the RORA rs11071547 gene was genotyped by PCR in 507 individuals. Considering summer type as confounding factor, we conducted analysis 478 subjects except 29 subjects of summer type. The Chi-square test was conducted to compare differences between groups of seasonals and non-seasonals. Association between genotypes and Global Seasonality Score (GSS) were tested using ANCOVA (Analysis of covariance). RESULTS: In this sample, the prevalence of SAD was 12.1% (winter type 9.3%, summer type 2.8%). There is no significant difference in genotyping distribution of RORA rs11071547 between groups of seasonals and non-seasonals. Global seasonality score (GSS) and scores of all subscales except body weight and appetite were not significantly different between the group with C allele homozygote and the group with T allele homozygote and heterozygote (p-value 0.138). Scores of body weight and appetite were significantly higher in group with C allele homozygotes. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that RORA gene polymorphism play a role in seasonal variations in appetite and body weight and is associated with susceptibility to seasonal affective disorder in some degree in the population studied.