BACKGROUND Velo-cardio-facial syndrome (VCFS) is associated with deletions at chromosome 22q11, abnormalities in brain anatomy and function, and schizophrenia-like psychosis. Thus it is assumed that one or more genes within the deleted region are crucial to brain development. However, relatively little is known about how genetic variation at 22q11 affects brain structure and function. One gene ...

AIM Estrogens regulate several biological processes involved in the pathogenesis of myocardial infarction. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is a key enzyme in the degradation of estrogens. There is a functional polymorphism in the COMT gene (Val158Met), affecting the activity of the enzyme. We investigated if the low activity genotype of COMT is associated with an altered risk of myocardial ...

BACKGROUND Recent genetic association studies have investigated the possible genetic role of the dopaminergic system in migraine. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is an enzyme that plays a crucial role in the metabolism of dopamine and its genetic polymorphism is associated with three- to fourfold variation of enzymatic activity. OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to elucidate the ...

The polymorphic variation in the val158met position of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene is associated with differences in executive performance, processing speed, and attention. The purpose of this study is: (1) replicate previous COMT val158met findings on cognitive performance; (2) determine whether COMT val158met effects extend to a real-world task, aircraft navigation performanc...

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is one of the major mammalian enzymes involved in the metabolic degradation of catecholamines and is considered a candidate for several psychiatric disorders and symptoms, including the psychopathology associated with the 22q11 microdeletion syndrome. By means of homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells, a strain of mice in which the gene encoding the...

OBJECTIVE Psychotic experiences occur at a much greater prevalence in the population than psychotic disorders. There has been little research to date, however, on genetic risk for this extended psychosis phenotype. We examined whether COMT or BDNF genotypes were associated with psychotic experiences or interacted with childhood trauma in predicting psychotic experiences. METHOD Psychiatric in...

A disturbed methylation has been proposed as a mechanism via which homocysteine is associated with diseases like vascular disease, neural tube defects and mental disorders. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is involved in the S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methylation of catecholamines and catecholestrogens and in this way contributes to homocysteine synthesis. COMT dysfunction has been relat...

INTRODUCTION Rumination is a multidimensional trait which is a proven risk factor in the vulnerability to depression. The aim to identify the main risk genes for depression in addition to the gene-environment interactions pointed to the importance of intermediate phenotypes, like rumination, to improve our understanding of the biological mechanisms of depression. Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (C...

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT; E.C. 2.1.1.6) is a ubiquitous enzyme in nature that plays an important role in the metabolism of catechol neurotransmitters and xenobiotics. In particular, inactivation of drugs such as L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) via O-methylation is of relevant pharmacological importance, because L-DOPA is currently the most effective drug used in the treatment of...

There have been several reports on the association between the Val(158)Met genetic polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, as well as the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4), and frontolimbic region volumes, which have been suggested to underlie individual differences in emotion processing or susceptibility ...