In WHS (Women's Health Study), <i>COMT</i> variants rs4818 and rs4680 were associated with a lower risk of CVD among women receiving placebo but not aspirin, suggesting a possible role of <i>COMT</i> in thrombosis.
Twenty-four-hour urinary hydroxytyrosol and HVAL and catechol-<i>O</i>-methyltransferase (<i>COMT</i>) rs4680 genotypes were measured.<b>Results:</b> After multivariable adjustment, all biomarkers were associated, as a continuous variable, with lower CVD risk, but only HVAL showed a strong inverse association (HR: 0.44; 95% CI: 0.25, 0.80) for the comparison between quintiles.
Among WGHS women allocated to placebo (135 events/n=5811), the rs4680 valine allele was protective against incident CVD relative to the methionine (hazard ratio [HR; 95% confidence interval {CI}], 0.66 [0.51-0.84]; P=0.0007); an association also observed in Coronary ARtery DIsease Genome-wide Replication and Meta-analysis and The Coronary Artery Disease Genetics Consortium (combined P=2.4×10(-5)).