Sleep Med Psychophysiol.  2007 Jun;14(1):26-32.

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme(ACE) Gene Polymorphism and Seasonal Variation in Mood and Behavior

• Jeon HY
• Lee HJ
• Kang SG
• Kim L

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism has been reported to be associated with depression and therapeutic outcome in depression. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ACE gene polymorphism is associated with seasonal variation in mood and behavior in a young Korean college student sample.
METHODS
297 young Korean medical students were recruited in this study. All subjects were free of major medical and psychiatric problems. They were genotyped for the ACE gene polymorphism and evaluated the seasonal variation in mood and behavior by the Seasonality Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ).
RESULTS
Global Seasonality Score (GSS) of SPAQ between three genotypes were not different. However, comparison of the group that showed seasonality of mood and behavior during winter with the group that did not showed seasonality indicated significant difference in genotype distribution (chi-square=6.79, p=0.034). The D allele non-carrier (II genotype) frequency was significantly higher in winter seasonality group than non-seasonality group (chi-square=6.59, p=0.010; odds ratio [OR]=2.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.20-4.28).
CONCLUSION
These results suggest that the ACE gene polymorphism is related to winter-type seasonality in a Korean population.

Keyword

Seasonality; Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE); Association seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

MeSH Terms

Alleles
Depression
Genotype
Humans
Odds Ratio
Surveys and Questionnaires
Seasons*
Students, Medical