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A 77-year-old female showed delusion of infestation in the oral cavity. She was treated by paroxetine 20 mg/day, and the hypochondriacal delusion disappeared after 8 weeks. Hypoperfusion in the left temporal and parietal lobes which was observed when she had the delusion was normalized after resolution of the delusion. This report suggests that paroxetine may be effective for delusional disorder, somatic type. It also supports the previous views that this disorder is associated with serotonergic dysfunction and hypoperfusion in the temporal and parietal lobes.

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Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is one of the major enzymes for the degradation of catecholamines. It has been suggested that catecholaminergic neurotransmission is involved in characterization of personality. Previous studies on the association between the COMT Val158Met polymorphism and personality traits in healthy subjects have produced inconsistent results. Therefore, the relationship between this polymorphism and personality was re-examined in 478 Japanese healthy volunteers. Personality traits were assessed by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and the COMT genotypes were determined by a PCR-RFLP method. In total, there were no significant differences among the Val/Val, Val/Met, and Met/Met genotypes in seven TCI dimension scores. Similarly, no significant relationship was found between the COMT genotypes and the TCI dimensions when males and females were analyzed separately. The present study thus suggests that the COMT Val158Met polymorphism is not associated with personality traits in Japanese healthy subjects.