title: Catechol-o-methyltransferase gene and executive function in children with ADHD.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between functional haplotypes in the catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) gene and ADHD diagnosis, and executive function (EF) in children with ADHD.
  
  
  METHODS
  COMT single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs; rs6269, rs4633, rs4818, and rs4680) were genotyped in 445 ADHD children. EF was assessed using Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Tower of London, and self-ordered pointing task. COMT haplotypes were tested for association using family-based association testing (fBAT) and quantitative trait analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  fBAT analysis showed no association between COMT alleles/haplotypes and ADHD diagnosis and EF parameters. Using ANCOVA in the Caucasian only sample, significant associations between COMT haplotypes, and WCST indices were observed. However, after correction for multipletesting, the only significant effect observed was between rs6269 and the number of categories completed (a measure of concept formation ability) on the WCST, F(1,285) = 8.92, p = .003.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results tentatively implicate COMT gene in modulating EF in children with ADHD.
authors.affiliation: 1McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Zia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Choudhry
authors.forename: Sarojini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sengupta
authors.forename: Geeta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thakur
authors.forename: Veronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Page
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Grizenko
authors.forename: Ridha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Joober
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics*; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
chemical_list: D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase