Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) polymorphisms predict treatment response in electroconvulsive therapy

COMT val158met influence on electroconvulsive therapy response in major depression

“…The first result supports related findings from association studies reporting the COMT 158val allele to be a risk factor for Major Depression [Funke et al, 2005;Massat et al, 2005]. The second observation for the first time replicates a very recent finding by Anttila et al [2008] suggesting the COMT 158val allele to be associated with a superior response to ECT. How could these two findings be embedded in an integrative pathophysiological model of antidepressant treatment response?…”

“…Thus, further research is warranted to conclusively evaluate the impact of COMT gene variation-preferably COMT tagging SNPs applying haplotype analysis-on antidepressant treatment response with respect to pharmacotherapy, electroconvulsive therapy or a combination of both, respectively. In extension of the study by Anttila et al [2008], in the present study a possible female-specific effect of COMT val158met in ECT response was detected. This is in line with a previous report on COMT val158met influence on antidepressant treatment response restricted to female patients [Baune et al, 2008], suggesting a sexually dimorphic pattern of genetic susceptibility to treatment response potentially in part being conferred by COMT gene variation.…”

“…Neuropsychiatric Genetics (ECT), to the best of our knowledge only one single study has been published to date reporting a significantly better response to ECT as conferred by the more active COMT 158val allele [Anttila et al, 2008].…”

Pharmacogenetics in Electroconvulsive Therapy and Adjunctive Medications

“…While genetic pathway alterations by ECT and their association with clinical parameters could provide pivotal information, few studies have examined the genetic approaches to neurobiology of ECT and the impact of pharmacogenomics on treatment response in ECT (Table 1) [68][69][70][71][72][73][74]. These studies have shown that chronic molecular effects induced by ECT are more likely to reveal the mechanisms of its therapeutic effects.…”

“…Anttila et al showed that COMT high/high genotype carriers would be more common in responders to ECT than other genotype carriers [72]. A finding that suggested the lower dopamine levels in the prefrontal cortex could be associated with substantially better treatment effects of ECT.…”