COMT Val158Met affects the analgesic response to acupuncture among cancer survivors with chronic pain Journal Article
| Authors: | Yang, M.; Baser, R. E.; Khanin, R.; Autuori, I.; Li, Q. S.; Panageas, K. S.; Orlow, I.; Mao, J. J. |
| Article Title: | COMT Val158Met affects the analgesic response to acupuncture among cancer survivors with chronic pain |
| Abstract: | Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is the major enzyme involved in the catabolism of dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain's reward system. The common COMT polymorphism Val158Met (rs4680 G>A) modulates pain response to opioids through a reward-motivated mechanism; however, its role in nonpharmacological pain medicine has not been clinically characterized. We genotyped 325 participants from a randomized controlled trial of cancer survivors with chronic musculoskeletal pain. We found that carrying methionine at position 158 (158Met) of COMT, encoded by the A allele, significantly increased the analgesic response to electroacupuncture (74% vs 50%; odds ratio [OR]: 2.79; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.31, 6.05; P < .01), but not to auricular acupuncture (68% vs 60%; OR: 1.43; 95% CI: .65, 3.12; P = .37) or usual care (24% vs 18%; OR: 1.46; 95% CI: .38, 7.24; P = .61) compared to Val/Val. These findings raise the possibility that COMT Val158Met might be an important predictor of analgesic response to electroacupuncture, providing novel insights into precision nonpharmacologic pain management tailored to individual genetic backgrounds. Perspective: This work suggests the modulating effects of the polymorphism in COMT Val158Met on the response to acupuncture. Further research needs to validate these findings, increase the mechanistic understanding of acupuncture, and guide further development of acupuncture as a precision pain management strategy. © 2023 |
| Keywords: | adult; controlled study; treatment response; major clinical study; single nucleotide polymorphism; genetics; polymorphism, single nucleotide; neoplasm; neoplasms; randomized controlled trial; genotype; cancer survivor; narcotic analgesic agent; acupuncture; chronic pain; analgesics, opioid; analgesia; methionine; valine; genetic polymorphism; cancer survivors; acupuncture therapy; reward; musculoskeletal pain; catechol o-methyltransferase; electroacupuncture; auricular acupuncture; catechol methyltransferase; humans; human; male; female; article; genetic background; comt val158met; comt protein, human |
| Journal Title: | Journal of Pain |
| Volume: | 24 |
| Issue: | 9 |
| ISSN: | 1526-5900 |
| Publisher: | Churchill Livingstone |
| Date Published: | 2023-09-01 |
| Start Page: | 1721 |
| End Page: | 1730 |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jpain.2023.05.005 |
| PUBMED: | 37187218 |
| PROVIDER: | scopus |
| PMCID: | PMC11321469 |
| DOI/URL: | |
| Notes: | The MSK Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748) is acknowledged in PubMed and PDF -- Corresponding author is MSK author: Jun J. Mao -- Source: Scopus |
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