Correlation of catechol O-methyltransferase Val108/158 Met polymorphism with P50 sensory gating in schizophrenia

Abstract

Objecttive To investigate the association between catechol O-methyl transferase (COMT) Val108/158Met polymorphism and P50 sensory gating in patients with schizophrenia. Methods In this study, event-related potentials (ERP) was determined in 139 stable patients with schizophrenia and 165 healthy controls. P50 sensory gating was evaluated by S1, S2, S1-S2, and S2/S1. COMT Val108/158 Met polymorphism was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The differences of P50 gating among COMT genotypes were compared. Results Compared with control group, schizophrenic patients exhibited smaller S1, S1-S2, and a higher S2/S1 ratio (2.84±1.53, 1.03± 1.61, 0.83±0.96 vs. 3.63±1.94, 2.10±1.77, 0.48±0.52, t=- 3.96, -5.45, 3.95, all P 0.05). The significant differences in COMT allelic and genotypic distributions were observed between schizophrenic patients and control group (χ2=7.74, 5.87, all P 0.05). No differences were also observed in S1 (2.59±0.24, 2.77±0.19, 2.62± 0.39), S2 (1.78±0.18, 1.77±0.14, 1.21±0.30), S1-S2 (0.81±0.27, 1.00±0.21, 1.41±0.43), and S2/S1 (0.87± 0.19, 0.94±0.15, 0.49±0.32) among COMT genotypes for men patients (F=0.20, 1.61, 0.71, 0.86, all P> 0.05). The significant differences in COMT allele and genotype distributions were observed between schizophrenic patients and control group (χ2=7.74, 5.87, all P 0.05). Conclusion COMT Val108/158 Met polymorphism may not be associated with P50 sensory gating abnormalities of schizophrenia among Han Chinese. Key words: Schizophrenia; Sensory gating; Catechol O-methyltransferase; Polymorphism