Korean J Biol Psychiatry.  2007 May;14(2):106-114.

Dopamine D2 Receptor Gene TaqI A Polymorphism in Korean Social Phobia Patients: Preliminary Study

• Kim BJ
• Lim SW
• Shin DW
• Oh KS
• Lee MS

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
It is suggested that disturbance of dopaminergic system might be related to the possible mechanism of social phobia. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association of DRD2 TaqI polymorphism and social phobia. METHOD: Fifty-one patients with social phobia and 200 comparison subjects were tested for DRD2 TaqI A polymorphism. The severity of social phobic symptoms was measured by self-report version of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale(LSAS-SR) and Hamilton anxiety scale(HAM-A).
RESULTS
There was no signigicant difference in the genotype, allele frequency, A1 carrier frequency, and heterozygote frequency DRD2 TaqI A polymorphism between the social phobia patients and the control groups. However, we found significant decrease in somatic anxiety of the HAM-A in the patients having A2A2 homozygotes(p=0.014). In addition, patients having A1A2 heterozygotes showed more anxiety in two subscales(p=0.042 in anxiety, p=0.019 in performance) of the LSAS-SR.
CONCLUSION
These results suggest that DRD2 A2 homozygote might have a protective role against somatic anxiety, and molecular heterosis of DRD2 TaqI A polymorphism might be related with more severe anxiety in social phobia.

Keyword

Social phobia; Heterozygote; DRD2 Taqiota A Polymorphism

MeSH Terms

Anxiety
Dopamine*
Gene Frequency
Genotype
Heterozygote
Homozygote
Humans
Hybrid Vigor
Phobic Disorders*
Receptors, Dopamine D2*
Dopamine
Receptors, Dopamine D2