European heart journal
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European heart journal · Mar 2004
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyAssociation between the low activity genotype of catechol-O-methyltransferase and myocardial infarction in a hypertensive population.
Estrogens regulate several biological processes involved in the pathogenesis of myocardial infarction. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is a key enzyme in the degradation of estrogens. There is a functional polymorphism in the COMT gene (Val158Met), affecting the activity of the enzyme. We investigated if the low activity genotype of COMT is associated with an altered risk of myocardial infarction. ⋯ Our findings suggest that the low activity COMT genotype is protective against myocardial infarction. One may speculate that the altered estrogen status could be involved in this effect.