This supports the significance of the sex factor in the genetic transmission of affective disorders, and a possible involvement of COMT activity changes in the pathogenesis of such disorders in women.
Measurements of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH), catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), and monoamine oxidase (MAO) along with 27 polymorphic marker phenotypes were available for 162 patients with major affective disorders and 1,125 of their relatives.