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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Adult, Amino Acid Substitution, Catechol O-Methyltransferase, Cerebral Cortex, Corpus Striatum, Demography, Genotype, Humans, Ligands, Receptors, Dopamine D2.
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Does cOMT Val158Met genotype alter cortical or striatal dopamine D2 receptor availability in vivo? Context: Catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) is a pivotal regulator of brain dopamine function with a region-specific role. COMT is important in dopamine elimination in the prefrontal cortex, whereas dopamine reuptake is the main mechanism for synaptic removal of dopamine in the striatum. We studied whether the functional COMT gene polymorphism (Val158Met) associates with altered dopamine D2 receptor binding characteristics in vivo hypothesizing an effect in the cortex but not in the striatum. Samples of 38 and 45 Finnish healthy subjects scanned previously with PET and the D2/D3 receptor radioligands [(11)C]FLB457 or [(11)C]raclopride, respectively, were genotyped for the Val158Met polymorphism. No significant associations were found between the Val158Met genotype and D2 receptor binding characteristics in the cortex or the striatum as measured with [(11)C]FLB457 and [(11)C]raclopride, respectively.
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COMT genotype is not related with alterations in baseline D2 receptor availability in vivo in the cortex or the striatum. This information is useful for the interpretation of genetic studies on COMT in neuropsychiatry. Final Decision: no