Genetic Variation in the Catechol-O-Methyl Transferase Val108/158Met Is Linked to the Caudate and Posterior Cingulate Cortex Volume in Healthy Subjects: Voxel-Based Morphometry Analysis of Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 26566126.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0142862 and PMC identifier 4643939.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The effect of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism on brain morphology has been investigated but remains controversial. We hypothesized that a comparison between Val/Val and Val/Met individuals, which may represent the most different combinations concerning the effects of the COMT genotype, may reveal new findings. We investigated the brain morphology using 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging in 27 Val/Val and 22 Val/Met individuals. Voxel-based morphometry revealed that the volumes of the bilateral caudate and posterior cingulate cortex were significantly smaller in Val/Val individuals than in Val/Met individuals [right caudate: false discovery rate (FDR)-corrected p = 0.048; left caudate: FDR-corrected p = 0.048; and bilateral posterior cingulate cortex: FDR-corrected p = 0.048]. This study demonstrates that interacting functional variants of COMT affect gray matter regional volumes in healthy subjects.
Medical subject headings
- Catechol O-Methyltransferase
- Caudate Nucleus
- Gyrus Cinguli
- Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide