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Effect of catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met polymorphism on resting-state brain default mode network after acupuncture stimulation

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Abstract

The effects of acupuncture can be characterized by clear individual differences. Several revealing studies suggest an underlying role of inherited genetic factor in interindividual variability in response to acupuncture treatment. It remains unclear, however, if the modulation of acupuncture on resting brain function is influenced by genetic factors. Catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism has been shown to regulate the resting brain network, especially in the default mode network (DMN), which is a target area that responds to acupuncture stimulation. Therefore, the present study investigated the effect of COMT Val158Met polymorphism on the modulation of acupuncture in DMN connectivity in healthy Chinese young adults. Using mixed-design ANOVA analysis, we found a significant interactive effect between acupuncture and the COMT gene. For subjects carrying the Val/Met genotype, acupuncture induced decreased DMN connectivity with the left middle frontal gyrus during the post-acupuncture stage compared with the pre-acupuncture stage, which was not observed in Val/Val homozygous subjects. These results demonstrated that during sustained periods after acupuncture stimulation, the brain network is likely under genetic control, and COMT might be a candidate gene that regulates the resting DMN response to acupuncture stimulation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering Research Center of Molecular and Neuro Imaging of the Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710071, China

    Xuejuan Yang, Jie Gong, Lingmin Jin, Lin Liu, Jinbo Sun & Wei Qin

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  1. Xuejuan Yang
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  2. Jie Gong
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  3. Lingmin Jin
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  4. Lin Liu
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  5. Jinbo Sun
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  6. Wei Qin
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Contributions

Designed the study: XY and WQ. Analyzed the data: JG, XY, and LL. Conducted the experiments: LJ and JS. Interpretation of data: XY and WQ. Wrote the paper: XY, JG and WQ.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wei Qin.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by National Basic Research Program of China under Grant Nos. 2014CB543203 and 2015CB856403, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos., 81471811, 61401346 and 81271644.

Conflict of interest

There are no competing financial interests in relation to the work described.

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Yang, X., Gong, J., Jin, L. et al. Effect of catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met polymorphism on resting-state brain default mode network after acupuncture stimulation. Brain Imaging and Behavior 12, 798–805 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-017-9735-6

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