title: G/A1947 polymorphism in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: High and low catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) activity is significantly determined by thermostability, which is caused by a valine/methionine108 polymorphism associated with polymorphic G/A1947 bases, in exon 4 of the COMT gene. Our allelic association study on this polymorphism did not find any statistically significant difference between our Chinese Parkinson's disease and that of control subjects. These results show that this polymorphism and hence the thermostability of COMT enzyme are not related to a risk of developing Parkinson's disease.
authors.affiliation: University Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: O C
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D001483:Base Sequence; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017931:DNA Primers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008715:Methionine / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D014633:Valine / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D008715:Methionine; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase; D014633:Valine