Association of COMT Val158Met Polymorphism with Psychopathological Symptoms in Patients with Eating Disorders

Title:Association of COMT Val158Met Polymorphism with Psychopathological Symptoms in Patients with Eating Disorders

Volume: 18 Issue: 1

Author(s): G. Gervasini*, L.M. Gonzalez, S. Mota-Zamorano, C. Gamero-Villarroel, J.A. Carrillo, I. Flores and A. Garcia-Herraiz

Affiliation:

• Department of Medical and Surgical Therapeutics, Medical School, University of Extremadura, Badajoz,Spain

Keywords: Eating disorders, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, dopamine, COMT, polymorphism, binge-eating.

Abstract: Background: Dopamine physiological functions make dopaminergic genes suitable candidates for association studies in eating disorders (ED). A Val158Met polymorphism in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, which is involved in dopamine degradation, has been studied in relation to ED.

Objective: We aimed to analyze the association between this polymorphism and general psychopathological symptoms that are often coupled to these disorders.

Method: A total of 303 ED patients, diagnosed according to DSM-5 criteria, completed the SCL-90R questionnaire and were genotyped for the Val158Met polymorphism.

Results: There were significant differences in the global indices of the SCL-90R inventory between the three ED groups (Anorexia Nervosa (AN), Bulimia Nervosa (BN) and binge-eating disorder; ANOVA-p < 0.05). Females with BN showed the highest scores (worse symptomatology) of all participants. In this group, a gene-dose effect was observed on the psychometric evaluation of the patients, as Val/Val carriers displayed the highest scores for all the SCL-90R scales, followed by Val/Met and then Met/Met carriers. Significant differences between genotypes were observed in the Obsessive- Compulsive (p = 0.018), Paranoid Ideation (p = 0.0005) and Psychoticism (p = 0.039) scales, as well as in the PSDI (p = 0.014) general index.

Conclusion: The results taken together suggest that COMT genetic variability may contribute to general psychopathological symptoms in patients with BN.

Cite this article as:

Gervasini G. *, Gonzalez L.M., Mota-Zamorano S. , Gamero-Villarroel C. , Carrillo J.A., Flores I. and Garcia-Herraiz A. , Association of COMT Val158Met Polymorphism with Psychopathological Symptoms in Patients with Eating Disorders, Current Molecular Medicine 2018; 18 (1) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1566524018666180608090512