No evidence for gender-specific sharing of COMT alleles in schizophrenia

Abstract

Catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) plays a major role in dopamine metabolism and has been the object of extensive investigations in subjects affected by schizophrenia. Interest in the enzyme has grown in recent years following positive linkage findings for schizophrenia in the chromosomal region surrounding the COMT gene locus on 22q. In several studies, a gender-specific association of COMT polymorphisms with schizophrenia has been reported and has given rise to speculations on transmission ratio distortions. The present investigation addressed allelic distributions in 307 men and women with respect to the rs165599 A > G polymorphism. No evidence was obtained for gender bias in allelic patterns, nor did we observe association with schizophrenia (p = 0.4). While studies involving same-sex siblings are lacking, gender-specific sharing of alleles does not appear to be a consistent feature of the COMT variant investigated.