Abstract
Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) is an enzyme that degrades catecholamines including dopamine. COMT rs4680 and rs4818 polymorphisms affect COMT activity and therefore brain dopamine levels and function. The G variants of both COMT rs4680 Val158Met (G > A substitution) and rs4818 (C > G substitution) polymorphisms are associated with greater COMT activity and lower prefrontal dopamine levels. Altered hypothalamic pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is the main feature of schizophrenia. In schizophrenic patients, morning salivary cortisol was not significantly associated with smoking, symptoms of schizophrenia or antipsychotic medication, but it was affected by diurnal rhythm. COMT polymorphisms might alter the HPA axis function and cortisol secretion through catecholaminergic (dopaminergic and noradrenergic) pathways. Interactions between stress and COMT polymorphisms in schizophrenia-spectrum phenotypes were reported. However, the data regarding association between COMT genotypes or haplotypes and cortisol in adult schizophrenic patients are missing. The hypothesis of this study was that COMT rs4680 and rs4818 polymorphisms are associated with salivary cortisol levels in adult patients with schizophrenia.
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