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Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Val158Met Polymorphism and Antisaccade Eye Movements in Schizophrenia
- Publication Year :
- 2008
- Publisher :
- Oxford University Press, 2008.
-
Abstract
- The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) enzyme catabolizes dopamine. The val(158)met single nucleotide polymorphism (rs4680) in the COMT gene has received considerable attention as a candidate gene for schizophrenia as well as for frontally mediated cognitive functions. Antisaccade performance is a good measure of frontal lobe integrity. Deficits on the task are considered a trait marker for schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of COMT val(158)met polymorphism with antisaccade eye movements in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. Schizophrenia patients (N = 105) and healthy controls (N = 95) underwent infrared oculographic assessment of antisaccades. Subjects were genotyped for COMT val(158)met and divided into 3 groups according to genotype (val/val, val/met, and met/met). Patients displayed significantly more reflexive errors, longer and more variable latency, and lower amplitude gain than controls (all P0.02). A greater number of val(158) alleles was associated with shorter (P = 0.045) and less variable (P = 0.028) antisaccade latency and, nonsignificantly, with lower reflexive error rate (P = 0.056). None of these variables showed a group-by-genotype interaction (P0.1). There were no significant associations of genotype with measures of amplitude gain or spatial error (P0.2). The results suggest that COMT val(158) carrier status is associated with better performance on the antisaccade task. Possible explanations of this finding are discussed.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
Psychosis
Candidate gene
medicine.medical_specialty
Adolescent
Genotype
Dopamine
Gene Dosage
Single-nucleotide polymorphism
Catechol O-Methyltransferase
behavioral disciplines and activities
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
Young Adult
Methionine
Reference Values
Internal medicine
mental disorders
medicine
Saccades
Humans
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Alleles
Genetic Association Studies
Genetics
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Catechol-O-methyl transferase
Polymorphism, Genetic
Valine
Middle Aged
medicine.disease
Frontal Lobe
Isoenzymes
Psychiatry and Mental health
Endocrinology
Frontal lobe
Amino Acid Substitution
Endophenotype
Schizophrenia
Female
Antisaccade task
Psychology
rs4680
Regular Articles
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....2c7734895c1f1686d2f830871dd6e2f9