Low expression of catecholamine-O-methyl-transferase gene in obsessive-compulsive disorder

• Published in: Journal of anxiety disorders Vol. 23; no. 5; pp. 660 - 664
• Main Authors: Wang, Zhen, Xiao, Zeping, Inslicht, Sabra S, Tong, Huiqi, Jiang, Wenhui, Wang, Xiao, Metzler, Thomas, Marmar, Charles R, Jiang, Sanduo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Catechol O-Methyltransferase - genetics; Catecholamine-O-methyl-transferase; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Down-Regulation; Female; Gender differences; Gene expression; Genes; Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases - genetics; Humans; Leukocytes; Male; Medical sciences; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - diagnosis; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - genetics; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - psychology; Obsessive-compulsive disorders; Obsessive-Compulsive neuroses; Peptide Fragments - genetics; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA - blood; RNA - genetics; RT-PCR; Severity of Illness Index; Catecholamine-O-methyl-transferase; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Gene expression; RT-PCR; Obsessive compulsive disorder; Gene; Enzyme; Transferases; Anxiety disorder; Genetics; Catecholamine; Genetic determinism
• ISSN: 0887-6185; 1873-7897
• DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2009.02.004

Abstract This study examined peripheral catecholamine-O-methyl-transferase (COMT) gene expression in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients and healthy controls. Participants included 35 first episode OCD patients and 31 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Relative COMT gene expression levels were examined by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in peripheral blood of all the subjects. COMT gene expression levels, normalized by glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), were significantly decreased in the OCD group compared with healthy controls ( F = 6.244, p = 0.015). OCD patients showed a 32% down-regulation. We also found lower COMT gene expression levels in female in comparison to male participants ( F = 5.366, p = 0.024) in the sample as a whole. COMT gene expression down-regulation of male OCD patients relative to male controls is 38%, and that of female OCD patients relative to female controls is 27%. These results suggest that COMT gene expression down-regulation might play an important role in the development of OCD and that there may be gender differences in this alteration.