Abstract
The nicotine in cigarette smoke can stimulate the dopaminergic reward pathways. The catechol O-methyltransferase gene (COMT) and dopamine receptor 2 gene (DRD2) are dopamine-related genes. Genetic polymorphisms in these two genes are potential candidates in determining an individual's predisposition to cigarette smoking. The purposes of this study were to examine the association between two polymorphisms in COMT Val 108/158 Met and DRD2 Taq1B and anthropometric–biochemical parameters and to ascertain the association between these polymorphisms and cigarette smoking. The levels of anthropometric–biochemical parameters were determined. COMT Val 108/158 Met and DRD2 Taq1B polymorphisms were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique. With regard to COMT Val 108/158 Met and DRD2 Taq1B polymorphisms, no differences were found in anthropometric–biochemical variables, except for thiocyanate concentration. Smoking status was significantly associated with COMT Val 108/158 Met polymorphism, but not associated with DRD2 Taq1B polymorphism. Logistic regression analysis showed that COMT Val 108/158 Met gene polymorphism, educational status, parental smoking, and alcohol consumption had statistically significant impacts on cigarette smoking. The results suggest that COMT Val 108/158 Met genetic polymorphisms, but not DRD2 Taq1B, may influence susceptibility to cigarette smoking among Thai males.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amstadter AB, Nugent NR, Koenen KC et al (2009) Association between COMT, PTSD, and increased smoking following hurricane exposure in an epidemiologic sample. Psychiatry 72(4):360–369
Bauer P, Collins S, Batra A (2007) Genotypes in smokers: correlations with smoking behaviors. Biochemica 3:10–12
Beuten J, Payne TJ, Ma JZ, Li MD (2006) Significant association of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) haplotypes with nicotine dependence in male and female smokers of two ethnic populations. Neuropsychopharmacology 31(3):675–684
Bilder RM, Volavka J, Lachman HM, Grace AA (2004) The catechol-O-methyltransferase polymorphism: relations to the tonic-phasic dopamine hypothesis and neuropsychiatric phenotypes. Neuropsychopharmacology 29(11):1943–1961
Chen J, Lipska BK, Halim N et al (2004) Functional analysis of genetic variation in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT): effects on mRNA, protein, and enzyme activity in postmortem human brain. Am J Hum Genet 75(5):807–821
Clague J, Cinciripini P, Blalock J, Wu X, Hudmon KS (2010) The D2 dopamine receptor gene and nicotine dependence among bladder cancer patients and controls. Behav Genet 40(1):49–58
Costa-Mallen P, Costa LG, Checkoway H (2005) Genotype combinations for monoamine oxidase-B intron 13 polymorphism and dopamine D2 receptor TaqIB polymorphism are associated with ever-smoking status among men. Neurosci Lett 385(2):158–162
David SP, Johnstone E, Griffiths SE et al (2002) No association between functional catechol O-methyl transferase 1947A > G polymorphism and smoking initiation, persistent smoking or smoking cessation. Pharmacogenetics 12(3):265–268
De Biasi M, Dani JA (2011) Reward, addiction, withdrawal to nicotine. Annu Rev Neurosci 34:105–130
Degiampietro P, Peheim E, Drew D, Graf H, Colombo JP (1987) Determination of thiocyanate in plasma and saliva without deproteinisation and its validation as a smoking parameter. J Clin Chem Clin Biochem 25(10):711–717
Enoch MA, Waheed JF, Harris CR, Albaugh B, Goldman D (2006) Sex differences in the influence of COMT Val158Met on alcoholism and smoking in plains American Indians. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 30(3):399–406
Grandy DK, Litt M, Allen L et al (1989) The human dopamine D2 receptor gene is located on chromosome 11 at q22-q23 and identifies a TaqI RFLP. Am J Hum Genet 45(5):778–785
Grossman MH, Emanuel BS, Budarf ML (1992) Chromosomal mapping of the human catechol-O-methyltransferase gene to 22q11.1–q11.2. Genomics 12(4):822–825
Guo S, da Chen F, Zhou DF et al (2007) Association of functional catechol O-methyl transferase (COMT) Val108Met polymorphism with smoking severity and age of smoking initiation in Chinese male smokers. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 190(4):449–456
Hauge XY, Grandy DK, Eubanks JH, Evans GA, Civelli O, Litt M (1991) Detection and characterization of additional DNA polymorphisms in the dopamine D2 receptor gene. Genomics 10(3):527–530
Jonsson EG, Nothen MM, Grunhage F et al (1999) Polymorphisms in the dopamine D2 receptor gene and their relationships to striatal dopamine receptor density of healthy volunteers. Mol Psychiatry 4(3):290–296
Karahalil B, Coskun E, Emerce E (2008) ADRA2A polymorphism and smoking in a Turkish population. Toxicol Ind Health 24(3):171–176
McKinney EF, Walton RT, Yudkin P et al (2000) Association between polymorphisms in dopamine metabolic enzymes and tobacco consumption in smokers. Pharmacogenetics 10(6):483–491
Munafò MR, Freathy RM, Ring SM, St Pourcain B, Smith GD (2011) Association of COMT Val(108/158)Met genotype and cigarette smoking in pregnant women. Nicotine Tob Res 13(2):55–63
Nedic G, Nikolac M, Borovecki F, Hajnsek S, Muck-Seler D, Pivac N (2010) Association study of a functional catechol-O-methyltransferase polymorphism and smoking in healthy Caucasian subjects. Neurosci Lett 473(3):216–219
Prasad P, Ambekar A, Vaswani M (2010) Dopamine D2 receptor polymorphisms and susceptibility to alcohol dependence in Indian males: a preliminary study. BMC Med Genet 11:24
Qi J, Tan W, Xing D, Miao X, Lin D (2002) Study on the association between smoking behavior and dopamine receptor D2 gene polymorphisms among lung cancer cases. Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi 23(5):370–373
Redden DT, Shields PG, Epstein L et al (2005) Catechol-O-methyl-transferase functional polymorphism and nicotine dependence: an evaluation of nonreplicated results. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 14(6):1384–1389
Shiels MS, Huang HY, Hoffman SC et al (2008) A community-based study of cigarette smoking behavior in relation to variation in three genes involved in dopamine metabolism: catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH) and monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A). Prev Med 47(1):116–122
Spitz MR, Shi H, Yang F et al (1998) Case-control study of the D2 dopamine receptor gene and smoking status in lung cancer patients. J Natl Cancer Inst 90(5):358–363
Wernicke C, Reese J, Kraschewski A, Winterer G, Rommelspacher H, Gallinat J (2009) Distinct haplogenotypes of the dopamine D2 receptor gene are associated with non-smoking behaviour and daily cigarette consumption. Pharmacopsychiatry 42(2):41–50
White MJ, Young RM, Morris CP, Lawford BR (2011) Cigarette smoking in young adults: the influence of the HTR2A T102C polymorphism and punishment sensitivity. Drug Alcohol Depend 114(2–3):140–146
Wu X, Hudmon KS, Detry MA, Chamberlain RM, Spitz MR (2000) D2 dopamine receptor gene polymorphisms among African-Americans and Mexican-Americans: a lung cancer case-control study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 9(10):1021–1026
Zubieta JK, Heitzeg MM, Smith YR et al (2003) COMT val158met genotype affects mu-opioid neurotransmitter responses to a pain stressor. Science 299(5610):1240–1243
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to express their sincere thanks to Mr. Paul Adams for reading the manuscript, to all volunteers, to all staff of the Faculty of Medical Technology, Rangsit University, and of the Department of Tropical Nutrition and Food Science, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, for their cooperation in this research. This work was supported by funds from the Thai Health Professional Alliance Against Tobacco (52-00-0882-10/2553), Rangsit University, Thailand.
Conflicts of Interest
None.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Suriyaprom, K., Tungtrongchitr, R. & Harnroongroj, T. Impact of COMT Val 108/158 Met and DRD2 Taq1B Gene Polymorphisms on Vulnerability to Cigarette Smoking of Thai Males. J Mol Neurosci 49, 544–549 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-012-9844-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-012-9844-z