Differential effect of COMT gene methylation on the prefrontal connectivity in subjects with depression versus healthy subjects.

Differential effect of COMT gene methylation on the prefrontal connectivity in subjects with depression versus healthy subjects. Neuropharmacology. 2018 Apr 30;: Authors: Na KS, Won E, Kang J, Kim A, Choi S, Tae WS, Kim YK, Lee MS, Joe SH, Ham BJ Abstract Expression of the catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) gene mainly determines prefrontal dopaminergic availability. Deficient prefrontal dopaminergic activity leads to loss of interest, energy, and motivation, which are core symptoms of depression. Given the role of stress-environmental interactions in major depressive disorder (MDD), we investigated the impact of COMT gene methylation status on prefrontal connectivity. We measured COMT gene methylation and polymorphisms (Val158Met) at the rs4468 locus in peripheral blood samples of healthy controls (n = 90) and patients with MDD (n = 90). We used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to calculate the fractional anisotropy (FA) and radial diffusivity (RD) of the white matter tracts related to prefrontal cortex. Finally, we examined the effects of COMT gene methylation on the white matter connectivity in patients with MDD. The FA and RD values in the prefrontal white matter tracts of patients with MDD were positively and negatively associated with COMT gene methylation, respectively. In the control group, on the other hand, the association between white matter connectivity and COMT gene methylation showed opposite pattern to those o...
Source: Neuropharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Neuropharmacology Source Type: research