Warriors, Worriers, and COVID-19: An Exploratory Study of the Catechol O-Methyltransferase Val158Met Polymorphism Across Populations.

ABSTRACT: Background Prevalence and mortality rates during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have varied widely across nations. This phenomenon may be partly due to regional variations in health-related behaviours, some of which may be influenced by health anxiety. A functional polymorphism of the catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, designated rs4680 or Val¹⁵⁸Met, has been associated with anxiety-related behaviours and the so-called "worrier" phenotype. Methods In this exploratory study, an analysis of the correlation between the frequencies of the Met allele of the COMT gene across 28 countries, obtained from the public domain Allele Frequency Database (ALFRED), and the COVID-19 prevalence and mortality rates in these countries, obtained from the Johns Hopkins Medica

SUBMITTER: Rajkumar RP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7456627 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature