Association of anorexia nervosa with the high activity allele of the COMT gene: a family-based study in Israeli patients.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a common, severe and disabling psychiatric disorder, characterized by profound weight loss and body image disturbance. Family and twin studies indicate a significant genetic contribution and pharmacological data suggest possible dysfunction of the serotonergic and dopaminergic pathways. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is a candidate gene for mediating susceptibility to AN since it is involved in the dopamine catabolism and because its functional polymorphism (Val/Met 158) determines high (H) and low (L) enzymatic activity alleles. Fifty-one Israeli AN patients and their parents were genotyped with the COMT polymorphism. Using the haplotype relative risk (HRR) method it was found that the frequency of the H allele among alleles transmitted to AN patients from their parents was significantly higher than in those not transmitted (68% vs 51% chi(2) = 5.20, df = 1, P = 0.023, odds ratio: 2.01). Transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) revealed that out of 49 heterozygote parents the H allele was transmitted to AN patients 33 times while the L allele was transmitted only 16 (McNemar's chi(2) = 5.90, df = 1, P = 0.015). Our study suggests that the COMT gene is associated with genetic susceptibility to AN, and that individuals homozygous for the high activity allele (HH) have a two-fold increased risk for development of the disorder.

Telephone vs face-to-face interviewing in a community psychiatric survey.

This study compared telephone with face-to-face interviewing in a community psychiatric survey. Two groups of women were investigated, Holocaust survivors and Europe-born respondents who were in prestate Israel during World War II. Both were administered the Psychiatric Research Interview Demoralization Scale and a short item scale investigating World War II experiences. Results showed a high compliance rate to the telephone mode. The subjects' scores in the two modes were highly correlated. Telephone interviewing seems to be a reliable and efficient method in areas with a well-developed network of subscribers.

Demoralization and social supports among Holocaust survivors.

This study attempted to investigate the opposing effects of degree of traumatization and of contemporary social supports on the demoralization scores of World War II survivors. The respondents were all married, Poland-born respondents living in socially contrasting neighborhoods in Tel Aviv, Israel. Two subgroups were defined, one that had been in Europe during World War II (index cases) and another that was in prestatehood Israel during the same period (comparison cases). All respondents were administered the Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Interview/Demoralization Scale, a short item scale investigating World War II experiences, and the Social Supports Network Inventory. Uni- and multivariate analyses were conducted using means and rates of demoralization as the dependent variable. The results show that demoralization scores were associated positively with dose effect (the more brutal the experience, the higher the scores) and inversely with social supports (the higher the acknowledged presence of contemporary supports, the lower the scores).