Acta Medica OkayamaVolume 56, Issue 1 2002 Article 1

FEBRUARY 2002

Catechol-O-methyltransferase and Parkinson’sdisease.

Chun-Hwi Tai∗ Ruey-meei Wu†

∗National Taiwan University Hospital,†National Taiwan University,

Copyright c©1999 OKAYAMA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL. All rights reserved.

Catechol-O-methyltransferase and Parkinson’sdisease.∗

Chun-Hwi Tai and Ruey-meei Wu

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the main causes of neurological disability in the elderly.Levodopa is the gold standard for treating this disease, but chronic levodopa therapy is complicatedby motor fluctuation and dyskinesia. The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors rep-resent a new class of antiparkinsonian drugs. When coadministered with levodopa/decarboxylaseinhibitor, 2 COMT inhibitors, tolcapone and entacapone have been shown to improve the clinicalbenefit of levodopa. COMT activity is genetically polymorphic, and individuals with the low activ-ity (COMT(L/L)) genotype have a thermolabile COMT protein; studies suggest that this genotypeis less common in Asians than in Caucasians. Differences in COMT activity may determine theindividual response to levodopa and result in ethnic differences in PD susceptibility. Our recentstudy suggests that the COMTL allele can interact with the MAOB gene to increase the occurrenceof PD in Taiwanese. In order to understand this new class of antiparkinsonian drugs, we reviewtheir basic properties, pharmacology, and clinical efficacy. The frequency distribution of COMTgenetic polymorphisms among different populations and its implications in the etiology and drugresponse is also discussed.

KEYWORDS: parkinson’s disease, catechol-O-methyltransferase, catechol-O-methyltransferaseinhibitors, genetic polymorphism, susceptibility

∗PMID: 11873938 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Copyright (C) OKAYAMA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL

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Tai and Wu: Catechol-O-methyltransferase and Parkinson's disease.

Produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2002

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Acta Medica Okayama, Vol. 56 [2002], Iss. 1, Art. 1

http://escholarship.lib.okayama-u.ac.jp/amo/vol56/iss1/1

3

Tai and Wu: Catechol-O-methyltransferase and Parkinson's disease.

Produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2002

4

Acta Medica Okayama, Vol. 56 [2002], Iss. 1, Art. 1

http://escholarship.lib.okayama-u.ac.jp/amo/vol56/iss1/1

5

Tai and Wu: Catechol-O-methyltransferase and Parkinson's disease.

Produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2002

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Acta Medica Okayama, Vol. 56 [2002], Iss. 1, Art. 1

http://escholarship.lib.okayama-u.ac.jp/amo/vol56/iss1/1