文摘
Rationale Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has consistently been identified as an adverse effect of long-term treatment with atypical antipsychotics (AAPs) such as clozapine. Elevated serum homocysteine concentration has been found to act as an independent risk factor for MetS, and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) catalyzes the homocysteine metabolism. We accordingly hypothesized that COMT dysregulation may confer the susceptibility to MetS induced by AAPs, potentially in a gender-specific manner, because the interaction effects of COMT and gender have been consistently reported. Objectives This study aimed at determining the prevalence and influence of COMT on MetS among a population undergoing long-term clozapine treatment. Methods A total of 468 schizophrenia patients taking clozapine were divided into two groups, those experiencing MetS and non-MetS. We genotyped three functional variants (rs4633, rs4680, and rs4818) in COMT and measured the serum levels of fasting homocysteine, glucose, triglyceride (TG), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Results MetS was found in 202/468 (43.2?%) of all the patients, with 40.2?% prevalence (138/343) in males and 51.2?% (64/125) in females. Patients with MetS had notably higher metabolic parameters than those without MetS. The mean levels of homocysteine in patients with MetS were significantly higher than those without MetS. We found a positive association between the rs4680 polymorphism and the serum triglyceride levels (corrected P--.024). Further analysis revealed that the rs4680 Met allele was significantly associated with increased triglyceride levels among female patients (P--.009), but not among males (P--.07). Conclusions Our findings suggest a potential association between rs4680 in COMT and elevated TG levels, particularly among female patients.