Περίληψη:
The available data from preclinical and pharmacological studies on the
role of the C-O-methyl transferase ( COMT) support the hypothesis that
abnormal catecholamine transmission has been implicated in the
pathogenesis of mood disorders ( MD). We examined the relationship of a
common functional polymorphism (Val108/158Met) in the COMT gene, which
accounts for four-fold variation in enzyme activity, with ‘early-onset’
( EO) forms ( less than or equal to 25 years) of MD, including patients
with major depressive disorder (EO-MDD) and bipolar patients (EO-BPD),
in a European multicenter case - control sample. Our sample includes 378
MDD ( 120 EO-MDD), 506 BPD ( 222 EO-BPD) and 628 controls. An
association was found between the high-activity COMT Val allele,
particularly the COMT Val/Val genotype and EO-MDD. These findings
suggest that the COMT Val/Val genotype may be involved in EO-MDD or may
be in linkage disequilibrium with a different causative polymorphism in
the vicinity. The COMT gene may have complex and pleiotropic effects on
susceptibility and symptomatology of neuropsychiatric disorders.
Συγγραφείς:
Massat, I
Souery, D
Del-Favero, J
Nothen, M
Blackwood, D
and Muir, W
Kaneva, R
Serretti, A
Lorenzi, C
Rietschel,
M
Milanova, V
Papadimitriou, GN
Dikeos, D
Van
Broeckhoven, C
Mendlewicz, J
