title: Association study of a functional catechol-O-methyltransferase gene polymorphism in Japanese schizophrenics.
abstract: Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is an enzyme which inactivates catecholamine neurotransmitters by methylation, and is considered a candidate for involvement in schizophrenia. A functional COMT gene polymorphism influencing the enzyme activities, the high activity (val-108) and the low activity allele (met-108), was recently confirmed. We investigated a genetic association between schizophrenia and the COMT gene polymorphism in 150 Japanese schizophrenics and controls. We detected the low activity met-108 allele more frequently in schizophrenics than in the controls, and found that subjects sharing the met-108 allele (val/met and met/met) are significantly more common in the patients than in the controls. The results suggest that the low activity met-108 allele may be involved in susceptibility for schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan. o-ohmori@med.uoeh-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ohmori
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shinkai
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Terao
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mita
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Abe
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D002892:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase; D004298:Dopamine