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ADHD Gene Doesn't Predict Response to Drugs
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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 To address this hypothesis, Joober and his team studied 188 white children, average age 9, with ADHD. Each child was evaluated for a series of five attention measures four times over two weeks, once each week before receiving a methylphenidate or a placebo, and once an hour after treatment. Basically, the children were placed in a mock classroom, given an age-appropriate math assignment, and observed through a one-way mirror for "off-task" behaviors. Additionally, the researchers determined the status of the COMT gene variant in each child.
The team detected a correlation between the type of COMT variant and behavior, Joober said, with the Met isoform associated with less severe behavior.
"What we found is that the children who have two copies of the Val isoform had an even harder time orienting their goals than children who are homozygous for Met [that is, have two copies of the Met isoform] or even Val/Met," he said. Each person two copies of the COMT gene, one from each parent.
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Yet the researchers observed no correlation between the type of variant and response to methylphenidates; the drug reduced ADHD behavior in all individuals regardless of genotype.
"We expected this polymorphism would also modulate response to medication, but it didn't," said Joober. "In other words, that means that whether you have the Val or Met allele, it will not change your level of response to medication with respect to task- or goal-oriented behavior."
Joober suggested these data have implications for treatment of children with ADHD, in that those with two copies of the Val variant may need additional intervention and assistance at school to complement their medications. First, however, the findings will need to be validated in other populations, he noted.
Dr. Mauricio Arcos-Burgos, of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, praised the study's sample size, method and interpretation.
"I think this is a very encouraging paper, very well-designed," he said. "They are following a rational logic, and the sample size is impressive."
More to the point, he said, the study design paves the way for other researchers to untangle the complexity of ADHD.
More information
For more on ADHD, visit the National Institute of Mental Health.
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Copyright © 2008 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 6/25/2008
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SOURCES: Ridha Joober, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, psychiatry & human genetics, McGill University, and principal investigator, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal; Andrew Adesman, M.D., chief, Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, Schneider Children's Hospital, New Hyde Park, N.Y.; Mauricio Arcos-Burgos, M.D., Ph.D., research associate professor and director, research, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; June 25, 2008, Neuropsychopharmacology, online
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