The catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) gene and its potential association with schizophrenia: Findings from a large German case-control and family-based sample

Nieratschker, Vanessa; Frank, Josef; Mühleisen, Thomas W.; Strohmaier, Jana; Wendland, Jens R.; Schumacher, Johannes; Treutlein, Jens; Breuer, René; Jamra, Rami Abou; Mattheisen, Manuel; Herms, Stefan; Schmäl, Christine; Maier, Wolfgang; Nöthen, Markus M.; Cichon, Sven; Rietschel, Marcella; Schulze, Thomas G.

doi:10.1016/j.schres.2010.06.018

« Previous Next »Schizophrenia Research
Volume 122, Issue 1 , Pages 24-30, September 2010

The catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) gene and its potential association with schizophrenia: Findings from a large German case-control and family-based sample

Vanessa Nieratschker
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Central Institute of Mental Health, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
Josef Frank
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Central Institute of Mental Health, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
Thomas W. Mühleisen
- Department of Genomics, Life & Brain Center, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127 Bonn, Germany
- Institute of Human Genetics, Biomedical Center, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127, Germany
Jana Strohmaier
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Central Institute of Mental Health, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
Jens R. Wendland
- Unit on the Genetic Basis of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, NIMH, NIH, 35 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, USA
Johannes Schumacher
- Department of Genomics, Life & Brain Center, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127 Bonn, Germany
- Unit on the Genetic Basis of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, NIMH, NIH, 35 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, USA
Jens Treutlein
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Central Institute of Mental Health, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
René Breuer
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Central Institute of Mental Health, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
Rami Abou Jamra
- Institute of Human Genetics, Biomedical Center, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127, Germany
- Institute of Human Genetics, University of Erlangen, Schwabachanlage 10, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
Manuel Mattheisen
- Department of Genomics, Life & Brain Center, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127 Bonn, Germany
- Institute of Human Genetics, Biomedical Center, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127, Germany
- Institute for Medical Biometry, Informatics, and Epidemiology (IMBIE), University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127, Germany
Stefan Herms
- Department of Genomics, Life & Brain Center, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127 Bonn, Germany
- Institute of Human Genetics, Biomedical Center, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127, Germany
Christine Schmäl
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Central Institute of Mental Health, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
Wolfgang Maier
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127 Bonn, Germany
Markus M. Nöthen
- Department of Genomics, Life & Brain Center, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127 Bonn, Germany
- Institute of Human Genetics, Biomedical Center, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127, Germany
Sven Cichon
- Department of Genomics, Life & Brain Center, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127 Bonn, Germany
- Institute of Human Genetics, Biomedical Center, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127, Germany
- Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine (INM-1), Research Center Juelich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Juelich, Germany
Marcella Rietschel
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Central Institute of Mental Health, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
Thomas G. Schulze
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Central Institute of Mental Health, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Göttingen, von-Siebold-Straße 5, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
- Corresponding author. Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany. Tel.: +49 621 1703 6052; fax: +49 621 1703 6055.

Received 13 January 2010; received in revised form 2 June 2010; accepted 24 June 2010. published online 21 July 2010.

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate possible associations between schizophrenia and 13 SNP markers in COMT. No association was observed in 631 cases, 207 nuclear families, and 776 controls. A cognitive performance phenotype (Trail Marking Test) was available for a subgroup of the patients. No association was found between the 13 markers and this phenotype. Four clinically-defined subgroups (early age at onset, negative symptoms, family history of schizophrenia, and life-time major depressive episode) were also investigated. Associations were observed for 3 of these subgroups, although none withstood correction for multiple testing. COMT does not appear to be a risk factor for schizophrenia in this population.

Keywords: Schizophrenia, COMT, Catechol-O-Methyltransferase, Polymorphism, Cognitive function