Association between Cathecol -O-Methyltransferase (COMT) Val 158 Met Polymorphisms and Psychosocial Stressors in Torajanese Schizophrenic Patients

Abstract

Objectives: TheTorajanese has a ritual tradition for the dead and marriage ceremonies from generation to
generation on a large-scale; this is one of the cultural factor that influences the evolution of genetic adaptation.
Increased incidence of schizophrenia annually is often associated with Cathecol-O-Methyltransferase
(COMT) Val 158 Met polymorphisms as one of the genes causing schizophrenia. This study was aimed
to determine the association between Cathecol -O- Methyltrnasferase Val 158 Met polymorphisms and
psychosocial stressors with schizophrenia in Torajanese schizophrenia patients.
Method: This was a quantitative study with a cross-sectional analytical description. There were 210 subjects
divided equally into 3 groups, namely the Torajanese schizophrenia group with three subsequent generations
(n = 70), normal Torajanese group (n = 70) and normal non-Torajanese group (n = 70). This study was
conducted at Hasanuddin University Hospital and its network. PCR and RFLP examination were used for
Cathecol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) Val 158 Met polymorphism. Questionnaire was used to assess the
psychosocial stressors.
Result: There was a significant difference in the distribution of genotypes between the Torajanese
schizophrenia group and the normal Torajanese group, between the normal Torajanese group and the the
normal non-Torajanese group (p <0.05). There were 3 genotypes in Cathecol -O-Methyltransferase (COMT)
Val 158 Met polymorphisms in Torajanese, namely Val/Val, Val/Met and Met/Met; and for the 140 subjects
of the Torajanese, the amount of Val/Val genotypes was 104 (74.3 %) subjects, Val/Met genotype was 32
(22.9%) subjects and Met/Met genotype was 4 (2.9%) subjects. It was found that 66 (47.1%) subjects had
psychosocial stressors and 74 (52.9%) subjects didn’t have psychosocial stressor.
Conclusion: There was a significant relationship between Cathecol -O-Methyltransferase (COMT) Val
158 Met polymorphisms and Torajanese schizophrenia group. There was a significant association between
psychosocial stressors and Torajanese schizophrenia group. There was no significant difference in PANSS
scores on the COMT Val 158 Met polymorphism genotypes.