Department of Psychiatry, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Psychiatry Investig. 2009 Sep;6(3):211-5. doi: 10.4306/pi.2009.6.3.211. Epub 2009 Jul 15.
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) has been reported to be more prevalent in schizophrenic patients who take antipsychotics. The cause of RLS is unknown but associated with dopaminergic deficiency. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is the enzyme responsible for catalyzing the conversion of L-tyrosine to DOPA. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the TH gene Val81Met polymorphism is associated with antipsychotic-induced RLS.
One hundred ninety Korean schizophrenic patients were evaluated by the diagnostic criteria of the International RLS Study Group (IRLSSG). The genotyping was performed by PCR-based methods.
Of the one hundred ninety schizophrenic patients, 44 (23.2%) were found to have RLS. Although there were no significant associations between TH genotypes or allele frequencies and RLS, when separate analyses were performed by sex (male or female), we detected significant differences in the frequencies of the genotype (chi(2)=6.15, p=0.046) and allele (chi(2)=4.67, p=0.031) of the TH gene Val81Met polymorphism between those with and without RLS in the female patients.
These findings suggest that the TH gene Val81Met SNP might be associated with antipsychotic-induced RLS in female schizophrenic patients.
据报道，服用抗精神病药物的精神分裂症患者中，不安腿综合征（RLS）更为普遍。RLS 的病因尚不清楚，但与多巴胺能缺乏有关。酪氨酸羟化酶（TH）是催化 L-酪氨酸转化为 DOPA 的酶。本研究旨在确定 TH 基因 Val81Met 多态性是否与抗精神病药引起的 RLS 有关。
190 名韩国精神分裂症患者按照国际 RLS 研究组（IRLSSG）的诊断标准进行评估。采用基于 PCR 的方法进行基因分型。
在 190 名精神分裂症患者中，发现 44 名（23.2%）患有 RLS。虽然 TH 基因型或等位基因频率与 RLS 之间没有显著关联，但在按性别（男性或女性）进行单独分析时，我们发现在女性患者中，RLS 患者与无 RLS 患者之间 TH 基因 Val81Met 多态性的基因型（chi(2)=6.15，p=0.046）和等位基因（chi(2)=4.67，p=0.031）频率存在显著差异。
这些发现表明，TH 基因 Val81Met SNP 可能与女性精神分裂症患者抗精神病药引起的 RLS 有关。
