Open AccessDoes Dysregulation of Catechol‐O‐Methyltransferase Predispose to Opioid‐Induced Hallucinations? A Report of a Patient with Microdeletion of Chromosome 22 and Opioid‐Associated Hallucinations
Author(s) -
Gitlin Melvin C.,
Taylor Bradley K.,
Kalarickal Philip L.,
Lonseth Eric D.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
pain medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.893
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1526-4637
pISSN - 1526-2375
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2007.00141.x
Subject(s) - catechol o methyl transferase , opioid , medicine , dopamine , psychosis , dopaminergic , psychiatry , dopamine transporter , psychology , genetics , allele , biology , gene , receptor
Velocardiofacial syndrome is a genetic disorder associated with a microdeletion on the long arm of chromosome 22, and this segment is responsible for coding catechol‐O‐methyltransferase, an enzyme involved in dopamine degradation. We submit a case of velocardiofacial syndrome and Madelung deformity of the wrists presenting with hallucinatory phenomena associated with opioid exposure. Overactivity of the dopaminergic system has been postulated to cause schizophrenia in this population, and here we speculate that dysregulation of dopamine metabolism may have predisposed our patient to an increased risk of opioid‐induced hallucinations. Further research is necessary to explore this relationship.