title: Influence of the catechol-O-methyltransferase val158met genotype on amygdala and prefrontal cortex emotional processing in panic disorder.
abstract: Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder with an estimated heritability of up to 48%. The functional val158met polymorphism in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene has been found to be associated with panic disorder and to influence limbic and prefrontal brain activation in response to unpleasant stimuli. In the present study, neuronal activation following emotional stimulation was used as an endophenotype and investigated for association with the COMT val158met polymorphism in panic disorder. Twenty patients with panic disorder were scanned by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3 Tesla under visual presentation of emotional faces and genotyped for the COMT val158met polymorphism. In response to fearful faces, increased activation in the right amygdala was observed in patients carrying at least one 158val allele. Increased activation or less deactivation associated with the 158val allele was seen upon presentation of fearful, angry and happy faces in the orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, respectively. Our data provide preliminary evidence for a role of the functional val158met COMT polymorphism in amygdala and prefrontal activation in response to emotional faces in panic disorder. This COMT variant might increase the vulnerability to panic disorder by modulating dopaminergic tonus in relevant brain regions and thus altering neuronal processing of anxiety-related emotional cues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Muenster, Albert-Schweitzer-Str. 11, D-48143 Muenster, Germany.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Domschke
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ohrmann
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suslow
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Christa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hohoff
authors.forename: Anette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kersting
authors.forename: Almut
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Engelien
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arolt
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Heindel
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deckert
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kugel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D000679:Amygdala / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length / Q000235:genetics*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase