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Interaction between the Val158Met catechol-O-methyltransferase gene variant and second-generation antipsychotic treatment on blood pressure in children

The Pharmacogenomics Journal volume 15, pages 95–100 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) medications are associated with cardiometabolic risk factors such as obesity and elevated blood pressure (BP) in some individuals. The goal of this study is to determine whether the Val158Met variant (rs4680) in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, associated with BP in adults, is associated with elevated BP in SGA-treated children. A cross-sectional population of SGA-treated (n=134) and SGA-naive (n=168) children, ⩽18 years of age, were genotyped and assessed for markers of cardiometabolic health. An interaction was found between SGA treatment and COMT genotype for BP. After adjusting for covariates, SGA-treated children with the Met allele had higher systolic and diastolic BP (P=0.014 and P=0.034, respectively), and higher fasting glucose concentrations (P=0.030) compared with children with the Val/Val genotype. This was not observed in SGA-naive children. The Met allele of the COMT Val158Met variant may identify SGA-treated children at risk for elevated BP and fasting blood glucose concentrations.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge Dr Jana Davidson for her assistance in establishing subject recruitment protocols within the Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at BC Children’s Hospital as well as Dr Duc Nguyen for database and statistical support. This work is supported by funding from the British Columbia Mental Health & Substance Use Services (Drs Devlin and Panagiotopoulos) and a Capacity Building Award from the Child & Family Research Institute (Dr Panagiotopoulos). Dr Cote is supported by a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research/BC Schizophrenia Society Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. Dr Panagiotopoulos is supported by Clinician Scientist awards from the Canadian Diabetes Association and Child & Family Research Institute. Dr Devlin is supported by an Investigator award from the Child & Family Research Institute.

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  1. Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada,

    A T Cote, C Panagiotopoulos & A M Devlin

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Correspondence to A M Devlin.

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Cote, A., Panagiotopoulos, C. & Devlin, A. Interaction between the Val158Met catechol-O-methyltransferase gene variant and second-generation antipsychotic treatment on blood pressure in children. Pharmacogenomics J 15, 95–100 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/tpj.2014.35

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