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Clinical Trial
. 2018;18(1):65-70.
doi: 10.2174/1566524018666180608090512.

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

G Gervasini  1 , L M Gonzalez  1 , S Mota-Zamorano  1 , C Gamero-Villarroel  1 , J A Carrillo  1 , I Flores  2 , A Garcia-Herraiz  2
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

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

G Gervasini et al. Curr Mol Med. 2018.

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.

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

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