MB-COMT promoter DNA methylation is associated with working-memory processing in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls.

ABSTRACT: Many genetic studies report mixed results both for the associations between COMT polymorphisms and schizophrenia and for the effects of COMT variants on common intermediate phenotypes of the disorder. Reasons for this may include small genetic effect sizes and the modulation of environmental influences. To improve our understanding of the role of COMT in the disease etiology, we investigated the effect of DNA methylation in the MB-COMT promoter on neural activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during working memory processing as measured by fMRI - an intermediate phenotype for schizophrenia. Imaging and epigenetic data were measured in 102 healthy controls and 82 schizophrenia patients of the Mind Clinical Imaging Consortium (MCIC) study of schizophrenia. Neural activity during the

SUBMITTER: Walton E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4164495 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature