North American Journal of Medical Sciences · 2011 · 14 citations · 17 references
Life SciencesGeneticsPsychiatryHuman GeneticsMedical GeneticsNeurogeneticsCandidate Gene StudiesGenotype-phenotype Association AnalysisGenotype-phenotype CorrelationNeuropsychiatric GeneticsPsychiatric GeneticsSchizophrenia Spectrum DisordersCase-control Study DesignEtiology Of Psychotic DisordersMolecular Genetic EpidemiologyPsychiatric Genetic RiskPsychiatric GenomicsSchizophrenia GeneticsSingle-nucleotide Polymorphism AnalysisSingle-nucleotide Polymorphism Variation
BACKGROUND: The Val158Met single nucleotide polymorphism of the COMT gene has been implicated in the aetiology of schizophrenia, although results from different populations have been conflicting. AIMS: The aim of the present study was to investigate possible association between schizophrenia and Val158Met in a novel Arab population from Syria. METHODS AND MATERIALS: 71 unrelated schizophrenic subjects (45 men) and 102 unrelated healthy controls (62 men) were recruited to take part in this case- control study. The Val158Met of the COMT gene was genotyped for patients and controls, using a new optimized PCR-RFLP method. RESULTS: the results demonstrated that there is no statistically significant difference between the two groups. CONCLUSION: This study does not support that Val158Met has an influence on susceptibility for schizophrenia in this population.
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