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2021 Impact Factor 1.766
5-Year Impact Factor 1.674
Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry 2016;23(4):166-72. Published online: Apr, 1, 2016
Objectives :
We investigated whether the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and serotonin related gene polymorphisms may be associated with agoraphobia in patients with panic disorder in Korea.
Methods : The COMT gene (rs4680), 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) gene (rs25531), serotonin receptor 1A (HTR1A) gene (rs6295) genotypes were analyzed in 406 patients with panic disorder and age-sex matched 206 healthy controls. Patients with panic disorder were dichotomized by the presence of agoraphobia. The following instruments were applied : the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Panic Disorder Severity Scale.
Results : There was a significant difference in the distribution of 5-HTTLPR genotype between panic patients with agoraphobia and without agoraphobia (p = 0.024). That is, the panic patients with agoraphobia had a significant excess of the less active 5-HTTLPR allele (S allele). (p = 0.039) Also, we replicated previous western reports which indicated a significant difference in the distribution of COMT genotype between the patients with panic disorder and the healthy controls (p = 0.040). However, no significant associations of agoraphobia or panic disorder with HTR1A gene polymorphisms were found.
Conclusions : This result supports that the COMT polymorphisms may be associated with panic disorder and suggests that the 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms may play a role in the pathogenesis of agoraphobia in the Korean patients with panic disorder.
Keywords Panic disorder;Agoraphobia;Polymorphisms;5-HTTLPR gene;COMT gene.