Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. May 19, 2024; 14(5): 695-703
Published online May 19, 2024. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v14.i5.695
Interaction between catechol-O-methyltransferase Val/Met polymorphism and cognitive reserve for negative symptoms in schizophrenia
Wen-Peng Hou, Xiang-Qin Qin, Wei-Wei Hou, Yun-Yi Han, Qi-Jing Bo, Fang Dong, Fu-Chun Zhou, Xian-Bin Li, Chuan-Yue Wang
Wen-Peng Hou, Xiang-Qin Qin, Wei-Wei Hou, Yun-Yi Han, Qi-Jing Bo, Fang Dong, Fu-Chun Zhou, Xian-Bin Li, Chuan-Yue Wang, Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & National Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China
Wen-Peng Hou, Xiang-Qin Qin, Wei-Wei Hou, Yun-Yi Han, Qi-Jing Bo, Fang Dong, Fu-Chun Zhou, Xian-Bin Li, Chuan-Yue Wang, Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, China
Author contributions: Wang CY was the guarantor and designed the study; Hou WP, Qin XQ, Hou WW, Zhou FC, and Dong F participated in the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of the data, and drafted the initial manuscript; Han YY, Bo QJ, Li XB, and Wang CY revised the manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81971250 and No. 82171501; Beijing Hospitals Authority Clinical Medicine Development of Special Funding Support, No. ZLRK202335; and Early Psychosis Cohort Program of Beijing Anding Hospital, No. ADDL-03.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing Anding Hospital (Approval No. 2020-70).
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have declared that there are no conflicts of interest in relation to the subject of this study.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Chuan-Yue Wang, MD, PhD, Professor, Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & National Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 5 Ankang Lane, Dewai Avenue, Xicheng District, Beijing 100088, China. wang_cy@ccmu.edu.cn
Received: December 22, 2023
Revised: April 9, 2024
Accepted: April 22, 2024
Published online: May 19, 2024
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Cognitive reserve (CR) and the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val/Met polymorphism are reportedly linked to negative symptoms in schizophrenia. However, the regulatory effect of the COMT genotype on the relationship between CR and negative symptoms is still unexamined.

AIM

To investigate whether the relationship between CR and negative symptoms could be regulated by the COMT Val/Met polymorphism.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional study, 54 clinically stable patients with schizophrenia underwent assessments for the COMT genotype, CR, and negative symptoms. CR was estimated using scores in the information and similarities subtests of a short form of the Chinese version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale.

RESULTS

COMT Met-carriers exhibited fewer negative symptoms than Val homozygotes. In the total sample, significant negative correlations were found between negative symptoms and information, similarities. Associations between information, similarities and negative symptoms were observed in Val homozygotes only, with information and similarities showing interaction effects with the COMT genotype in relation to negative symptoms (information, β = -0.282, 95%CI: -0.552 to -0.011, P = 0.042; similarities, β = -0.250, 95%CI: -0.495 to -0.004, P = 0.046).

CONCLUSION

This study provides initial evidence that the association between negative symptoms and CR is under the regulation of the COMT genotype in schizophrenia.

Keywords: Catechol-O-methyltransferase Val/Met polymorphism, Cognitive reserve, Crystallized intelligence, Negative symptoms, Schizophrenia

Core Tip: Cognitive reserve (CR) and the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val/Met polymorphism are reportedly linked to negative symptoms, which are a core clinical manifestation of schizophrenia. However, the regulatory effect of the COMT genotype on the relationship between CR and negative symptoms is unclear. In this study, COMT Met-carriers exhibited fewer negative symptoms than Val homozygotes. Information and similarities showed interaction effects with the COMT genotype in terms of negative symptoms. This preliminary study shows that the association between negative symptoms and CR may be under the regulation of the COMT genotype in schizophrenia.