Polymorphisms of COMT Val158Met and DAT1 3′-UTR VNTR in illicit drug use and drug-related psychiatric disorders

To investigate the involvement of COMT Val158Met and DAT1 3′-UTR VNTR genotypes in the pathogenesis of illicit drug use and drug-induced psychotic disorders (DIP), 187 substance users and 386 normal controls were recruited from Northern Taiwan. Substance users and normal controls significantly differed in allele frequencies of COMT Val158Met (p = 0.039) but not in allele frequencies of DAT1 3′-UTR VNTR (p = 0.879). However, neither allele frequencies of COMT Val158Met nor allele frequencies of DAT1 3′-UTR VNTR were associated with DIP. The findings should be confirmed in further studies of a larger sample size and a more homogenous patient group.