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Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a chronic mental health condition marked by significant mood fluctuations, including episodes of mania and depression. Elevated energy levels, heightened mood or irritability, impulsive behavior, reduced sleep needs, rapid speech, racing thoughts, inflated self-esteem, and distractibility characterize mania. Individuals with bipolar disorder often alternate between depressive and manic states, with periods of emotional stability lasting an average of six months to a year.

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Manic symptom severity correlates with COMT activity in the striatum: A post-mortem study.

Marco Bortolato¹, Consuelo Walss-Bass², Peter M Thompson³

¹a Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy , University of Utah , Salt Lake City , UT , USA.

The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry : the Official Journal of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry

|July 27, 2016

Summary

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) striatal activity, not its rs4680 genotype, correlates with manic symptom severity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia patients. This suggests COMT striatal activity may be a biomarker for mania.

Keywords:

Catechol-O-methyltransferase bipolar disorder manic symptoms schizophrenia single nucleotide polymorphism

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Psychiatry
Genetics

Background:

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) degrades dopamine and norepinephrine, implicating it in bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia pathophysiology.
The COMT rs4680 polymorphism (Val158Met) affects enzyme activity and is linked to symptom severity, but its precise role remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between COMT enzymatic activity, the rs4680 genotype, and psychopathology in BD and schizophrenia.
To determine if COMT activity or genotype serves as a biomarker for specific symptoms.

Main Methods:

COMT catalytic activity was measured in post-mortem brain regions (prefrontal cortex, striatum, cerebellum) from patients with schizophrenia, BD, and controls.
Activity levels were correlated with rs4680 genotypes and clinical symptom severity.

Main Results:

No direct correlation was found between COMT activity and rs4680 genotypes.
Striatal COMT activity showed a strong correlation with the severity of manic symptoms, independent of diagnosis.

Conclusions:

Striatal COMT activity, rather than the rs4680 genotype, may function as a biomarker for manic symptoms.
Further research is needed to validate these findings and explore the neurobiological underpinnings of this association.