Positive symptoms in first-episode psychosis patients experiencing low maternal care and stressful life events: a pilot study to explore the role of the COMT gene.
Stress
; 17(5): 410-5, 2014 Sep.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25068285
ABSTRACT
COMT Val(158)Met moderates the effect of stress on psychotic symptoms. Exposure to stress is also associated with mesolimbic dopamine release in individuals experiencing low maternal care. We therefore test the hypothesis that recent stressful life events are associated with more severe positive symptoms (associated with mesolimbic dopamine release) in first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients who experienced low maternal care during childhood. We hypothesized that COMT Val(158)Met moderates this association. A total of 149 FEP patients recruited within the Psychosis Incident Cohort Outcome Study (PICOS) participated in the present study. Maternal care was assessed by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), stressful life events were collected by the List of Events Scale and positive symptoms were assessed by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). We found that low maternal care and recent stressful life events were associated with higher level of positive symptoms at the onset (analysis of variance [ANOVA], p = 0.012), and that patients who were also homozygotes for the COMT Val(158) allele had the highest level of positive symptoms (ANOVA, p = 0.024). Low maternal care and severe stressful life events may contribute to a symptomatology characterized by more severe positive symptoms at the onset, possibly due to an increased mesolimbic dopamine release. Homozygosity for the COMT Val(158) allele seems to confer a biological predisposition to the stress-related hyperactivity of the mesolimbic dopaminergic system. The data imply that the mesolimbic dopaminergic system is involved in the mediation/modulation of the effect of stressful events on the vulnerability for psychosis.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Trastornos Psicóticos
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Estrés Psicológico
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Catecol O-Metiltransferasa
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Acontecimientos que Cambian la Vida
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Conducta Materna
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Relaciones Madre-Hijo
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Stress
Asunto de la revista:
NEUROLOGIA
Año:
2014
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Italia