title: COMT Associations with Disordered Gambling and Drinking Measures.
abstract: Disordered gambling and alcohol dependence are influenced by unique and shared genetic factors. Although the evidence is mixed, some research has linked catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) rs4680 (or COMT Val158Met) to the development of gambling or drinking problems; however, no molecular genetic study has jointly examined gambling and drinking problems. Furthermore, the majority of past studies examined gambling or drinking problems using a case-control design. The purpose of the current study was to examine associations of COMT rs4680 with dimensionally and categorically measured gambling and drinking problems in a nonclinical sample (139 Caucasian adults). The current study found that COMT rs4680 was related to both dimensionally and categorically measured gambling and drinking problems. It appears that the COMT Met/Met genotype may be a genetic risk factor that contributes to the development of both gambling and drinking problems.
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, 2250 Alcazar St CSC 240, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA, cguillot@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Casey R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Guillot
authors.forename: Jennifer R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Fanning
authors.forename: Tiebing
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Mitchell E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Berman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase