Catechol-O-Methyltransferase GeneticVariant Associated with the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease in a Brazilian Population.

The aim of the present study was to examinethe association between polymorphism in thecatechol-O-methyltransferase(COMT) gene and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a Brazilianpopulation. The case-control method was used to study the association between AD and geneticvariants of COMT. Six tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs) in the COMT gene were genotyped by RT-PCR. Ourfindings showed that the 6 tag SNPs analyzed in this study were not associated with AD at the alleleand genotype levels in comparison with the control group. No statistical difference was foundbetween groups with and without behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Ourresults do not support the hypothesis that the polymorphisms of theCOMT gene may be associated with susceptibility to AD withand without BPSD. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]