A valine-108-methionine polymorphism in exon 4 of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene causes a 3- to 4-fold reduction in enzyme activity and has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. This increased risk may be attributable to a decreased ability of the protein encoded by the low-activity allele (COMT(L)) to methylate and inactivate catechol estrogens, which have been...

Preeclampsia is a leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. This disorder is thought to be multifactorial in origin, with multiple genes, environmental and social factors, contributing to disease. One proposed mechanism is placental hypoxia-driven imbalances in angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors, causing endothelial cell dysfunction. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (Comt)-deficient p...

Cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) enzymes play critical roles in estrogen metabolism. Alterations in the catalytic activity of CYP1B1 and COMT enzymes have been found associated with altered breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women in many populations. The substitution of leucine (Leu) to valine (Val) at codon 432 increases the catalytic activity of CYP1B1, ...

Schizophrenia is a complex disorder with a polygenic inheritance. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) plays a significant role in the regulation of dopaminergic systems. A polymorphism at COMT Val108/158Met has been identified in association with schizophrenia. We examined the allele and genotype association of the COMT Val108/158Met polymorphism of 297 unrelated schizophrenic patients who stri...

OBJECTIVE Catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) is believed to exert degradative action at high norepinephrine (NE) levels. Although COMT exists in cardiac tissues, the contribution of cardiac COMT activity to regional NE kinetics, particularly in ischemia-induced NE accumulation, remains unclear. We investigated the role of cardiac COMT in NE kinetics in the ischemic region. METHODS We implant...

background : a single nucleotide variation within  atechol-o-methyl transferase (comt) gene may alter the comt enzyme activity level. polymorphism of val158met in the comt gene has been related to malignancy. in this regard, a study was carried out to find a possible association between the comt gene polymorphism in patients with sporadic prostate cancer (pca) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (...

We have previously reported that methylation of catecholamines by catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) was attenuated in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) with acute hypotension as compared with that of Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. Here we examined the soluble (S-) and membrane-bound (MB-) COMT activities and COMT protein in the liver, kidney, and erythrocytes in both strains. Both the activitie...

Genetic variation in the catechol-O-methyltransferase gene (COMT) can influence cognitive function, and this effect may depend on developmental stage. Using a large representative British birth cohort, we investigated the effect of COMT on cognitive function (verbal and non-verbal) at ages 8 and 15 years taking into account the possible modifying effect of pubertal stage. Five functional COMT p...

There is compelling evidence to suggest that catecholestrogens may play a role in the development of breast cancer. Particularly, inactivation of catecholestrogens may prevent the genesis and arrest the development of breast cancer. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is polymorphic and responsible for the detoxification of catecholestrogens. In the present study, we examined what role COMT gen...