@article{ref1,
title="The relationship between childhood abuse and dissociation. Is it influenced by catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) activity?",
journal="International journal of neuropsychopharmacology",
year="2008",
author="Savitz, Jonathan B. and van der Merwe, Lize and Newman, Timothy K. and Solms, Mark and Stein, Dan J. and Ramesar, Rajkumar S.",
volume="11",
number="2",
pages="149-161",
abstract="Dissociation is a failure of perceptual, memorial and emotional integration that is associated with a variety of psychiatric disorders. Dissociative processes are usually attributed to the sequelae of childhood trauma although there are data to suggest that genetic influences are also important. Bipolar disorder (BD), a condition with a strong genetic basis, has also been associated with early psychological trauma. Since childhood trauma is a risk factor for both BD and dissociation, we tested for potential gene-childhood abuse interactions on dissociation in a pilot sample of BD probands and their affected and unaffected relatives (n=178). Dissociation was measured with the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES II) and childhood maltreatment with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). The BD and recurrent unipolar depression (MDE-R) groups showed higher levels of self-reported abuse and dissociation than their unaffected relatives. The low-activity Met allele of the Val66Met polymorphism of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene was associated with lower levels of self-reported dissociation. Further, the functional catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism interacted significantly with total CTQ abuse scores to impact perceived dissociation. The Val/Val genotype was associated with increasing levels of dissociation in participants exposed to higher levels of childhood trauma. The opposite was observed in people with Met/Met genotypes who displayed decreased dissociation with increasing self-reported childhood trauma. The current findings support the involvement of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism in mediating the relationship between trauma and psychopathology.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1461-1457",
doi="10.1017/S1461145707007900",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1461145707007900"
}