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Meta-Analysis of the COMT Val158Met Polymorphism in Major Depressive Disorder: Effect of Ethnicity

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Abstract

The COMT (catechol-O-methyltransferase) Val158Met polymorphism (rs4680) is a potential susceptibility variant for major depressive disorder (MDD). Although many genetic studies have examined the association between MDD and this polymorphism, the results were inconclusive. In the present study, we conducted a series of meta-analyses of samples consisting of 2905 MDD cases and 2403 controls with the goal of determining whether this variant indeed has any effect on MDD. We revealed a significant association in the comparison of Val/Val + Val/Met vs. Met/Met (OR =1.180; 95 % CI = 1.019, 1.367; P = 0.027), Val/Met vs. Val/Val (OR =1.18; 95 % CI = 1.038, 1.361; P = 0.013), and Val/Met vs. Met/Met (OR =1.229; 95 % CI = 1.053, 1.435; P = 0.009). Further meta-analyses of samples with European ancestry demonstrated a significant association of this SNP with MDD susceptibility in Val/Val + Val/Met vs. Met/Met (OR =1.231, 95 % CI = 1.046, 1.449; P = 0.013) and Val/Met vs. Met/Met (OR =1.284, 95 % CI = 1.050, 1.484; P = 0.012). For the samples with East Asian ancestry, we found a significant association in both allelic (Val vs. Met: OR =0.835; 95 % CI = 0.714, 0.975; P = 0.023) and genotypic (Met/Met + Val/Met vs. Val/Val: OR =1.431, 95 % CI = 1.143, 1.791; P = 0.002; Val/Met vs. Val/Val: OR =1.482, 95 % CI = 1.171, 1.871; P = 0.001) analyses. No evidence of heterogeneity among studies or publication bias was observed. Together, our results indicate that the COMT Val158Met polymorphism is a vulnerability factor for MDD with distinct effects in different ethnic populations.

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Acknowledgment

We thank Dr. David L. Bronson for his excellent editing of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China

    Maiqiu Wang, Yunlong Ma, Wenji Yuan, Kunkai Su & Ming D. Li

  2. Air Center for Air Pollution and Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Ming D. Li

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Ming D. Li

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  1. Maiqiu Wang
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Correspondence to Ming D. Li.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors. All data in the article were retrieved from the literature.

Funding

This study was supported in part by the Research Center for Air Pollution and Health of Zhejiang University, Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2012AA020405), and NIH grant DA012844.

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The authors have no conflict interest regarding this report.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary Figure 1

Funnel plots for meta-analyses of total samples: (a) Val vs. Met; (b) Val/Val + Val/Met vs. Met/Met; (c) Met/Met + Val/Met vs. Val/Val; (d) Val/Met vs. Met/Met; (e) Val/Met vs. Val/Val; (f) Val/Val vs. Met/Met. (PDF 179 kb)

Supplementary Figure 2

Funnel plots for meta-analyses of European ancestry samples: (a) Val vs. Met; (b) Val/Val + Val/Met vs. Met/Met; (c) Met/Met + Val/Met vs. Val/Val; (d) Val/Met vs. Met/Met; (e) Val/Met vs. Val/Val; (f) Val/Val vs. Met/Met. (PDF 175 kb)

Supplementary Figure 3

Funnel plots for meta-analyses of East Asian ancestry samples: (a) Val vs. Met; (b) Val/Val + Val/Met vs. Met/Met; (c) Met/Met + Val/Met vs. Val/Val; (d) Val/Met vs. Met/Met; (e) Val/Met vs. Val/Val; (f) Val/Val vs. Met/Met. (PDF 171 kb)

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Wang, M., Ma, Y., Yuan, W. et al. Meta-Analysis of the COMT Val158Met Polymorphism in Major Depressive Disorder: Effect of Ethnicity. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 11, 434–445 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11481-016-9651-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11481-016-9651-3

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