Catechol-O-methyltransferase activity in erythrocytes from patients with eating disorders.
Eat Weight Disord
; 21(2): 221-7, 2016 Jun.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26296436
PURPOSE: Abnormal feeding has been linked to disruptions in brain dopaminergic activity and recent studies have assessed the role of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) in eating disorders. This is the first study to quantify the soluble catechol-O-methyltransferase (S-COMT) activity in erythrocytes from patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge-eating disorder (BED) and the first study at all to evaluate the COMT on patients with BED. METHODS: Forty blood samples from patients with AN, BN and BED and healthy controls were drawn to evaluate S-COMT activity in erythrocytes by high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Since several patients were being treated with fluoxetine 20 mg, they were included in a different group (BN MED and BED MED). Liver homogenates from rats were used to evaluate baseline S-COMT activity in the presence of fluoxetine by the same in vitro procedures and assays. RESULTS: Erythrocyte S-COMT activity (pmol/mg prt/h) was significantly increased in patients with BN and BED (41.3 ± 6.8 and 41.4 ± 14, respectively) compared to control group (25.3 ± 9.7). In fluoxetine-treated patients with BN, S-COMT activity (15.9 ± 8.8) was decreased compared to the other BN group; however, in BED group, the difference between BED MED and BED was not observed. In patients with AN, no significant difference was found compared to controls. CONCLUSION: Patients with BN and BED presented higher S-COMT activity in erythrocytes, which is in agreement with previous studies on the literature addressing the high-activity COMT allele, Val158, as risk factor for eating disorders. Although in fluoxetine-treated patients with BN the activity of S-COMT was similar to the controls, this is not explained by a direct interaction between fluoxetine and S-COMT as verified in in vitro assays.
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Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Catecol O-Metiltransferase
/
Transtornos da Alimentação e da Ingestão de Alimentos
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Eritrócitos
Tipo de estudo:
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Animals
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Eat Weight Disord
Assunto da revista:
GASTROENTEROLOGIA
/
METABOLISMO
Ano de publicação:
2016
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Portugal