Publication Description
Abstract Aims Catecholamines have metabolic effects on blood pressure, insulin sensitivity and blood glucose. Genetic variation in catechol- O -methyltransferase (COMT), an enzyme that degrades catecholamines, is associated with cardiometabolic risk factors and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD). Here we examined COMT effects on glycemic function and type 2 diabetes. Methods We tested whether COMT polymorphisms were associated with baseline HbA1c in the Women's Genome Health Study (WGHS), and Meta-Analyses of Glucose and Insulin-related traits Consortium (MAGIC), and with susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in WGHS, DIAbetes Genetics Replication And Meta-analysis consortium (DIAGRAM), and the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). Given evidence that COMT modifies some drug responses, we examined association with type 2 diabetes and randomized metformin and aspirin treatment. Results COMT rs4680 high-activity G-allele was associated with lower HbA1c in WGHS (β = − 0.032%[0.012], p = 0.008) and borderline significant in MAGIC (β = − 0.006%[0.003], p = 0.07). Combined COMT per val allele effects on type 2 diabetes were significant (OR = 0.98[0.96–0.998], p = 0.03) in fixed-effects analyses across WGHS, DIAGRAM, and DPP. Similar results were obtained for 2 other COMT SNPs rs4818 and rs4633. In the DPP, the rs4680 val allele was borderline associated with lower diabetes incidence among participants randomized to metformin (HR = 0.81[0.65–1.00], p = 0.05). Conclusions COMT rs4680 high-activity G-allele was associated with lower HbA1c and modest protection from type 2 diabetes. The directionality of COMT associations were concordant with those previously observed for cardiometabolic risk factors and CVD.