Journal
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
Volume 67, Issue 4, Pages 304-308Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.10.009
Keywords
COMT polymorphism; genetic polymorphisms; post-traumatic stress disorder; refugees; risk
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Funding
- German Research Foundation (DFG)
- Swiss National Science Foundation [PP00P3-123391, GRSIK0_122691, PP00P3-114813]
- European Science Foundation
- University of Konstanz
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) [PP00P3_123391] Funding Source: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
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Background: The risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) depends on the number of traumatic event types experienced in a dose-response relationship, but genetic factors are known to also influence the risk of PTSD. The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism has been found to affect fear extinction and might play a role in the etiology of anxiety disorders. Methods: Traumatic load and lifetime and current diagnosis of PTSD and COMT genotype were assessed in a sample of 424 survivors of the Rwandan Genocide living in the Nakivale refugee camp in southwestern Uganda. Results: Higher numbers of different lifetime traumatic event types led to a higher prevalence of lifetime PTSD in a dose-response relationship. However, this effect was modulated by the COMT genotype: whereas Val allele carriers showed the typical dose-response relationship, Met/Met homozygotes exhibited a high risk for PTSD independently of the severity of traumatic load. Conclusions: The present findings indicate a gene-environment interaction between the human COMT Val158Met polymorphism and the number of traumatic event types experienced in the risk of developing PTSD.
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