Genetic variations of COMT and KIBRA, which were reported to be expressed in the hippocampus, have been linked to memory function. However, their interaction on the hippocampal structure remains unknown. This study aimed to explore the interaction effects of COMT rs4680 and KIBRA rs17070145 on the hippocampal subfield volumes and test their associations with hippocampus-memory relationship in 187 healthy young adults. Two-way analysis of covariance was applied to the alterations in hippocampal subfield volumes among COMT and KIBRA genotypes. Significant interaction effects of these two genes were found in the right CA1 and CA3 subfields. Among KIBRA C-allele carriers, COMT Val/Val homozygotes showed greater volume in these regions than COMT Met-allele carriers. Furthermore, the slope of the correlation between right CA1 volume and immediate recall on the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) (F = 4.36, p = 0.041) as well as CVLT-II delayed recall (F = 6.44, p = 0.014) were significantly different between COMT Val/Val homozygotes and Met-allele carriers, which were positive or tend to be positive in COMT Val/Val group (CVLT immediate recall, r = 0.319, p = 0.040; CVLT delayed recall, r = 0.304, p = 0.051), but absent in COMT Met-allele carriers (CVLT immediate recall, r = -0.263, p = 0.205; CVLT delayed recall, r = -0.351, p = 0.086). These findings may provide a novel insight into the genetic effects upon the hippocampal structure and suggest that the conjoint effects of COMT and KIBRA played a modulatory role in the hippocampus-episodic memory correlation.

中文翻译：

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在健康的年轻成年人中，COMT和KIBRA的相互作用调节海马结构与情景记忆性能之间的关联。

据报道，在海马中表达的COMT和KIBRA的遗传变异与记忆功能有关。然而，它们在海马结构上的相互作用仍然未知。这项研究旨在探讨COMT rs4680和KIBRA rs17070145对海马亚场体积的相互作用影响，并测试其与187名健康年轻人的海马-记忆关系的相关性。对COMT和KIBRA基因型之间的海马亚视野体积变化进行了协方差双向分析。在正确的CA1和CA3子域中发现了这两个基因的显着相互作用。在KIBRA C等位基因携带者中，COMT Val / Val纯合子在这些区域的体积比COMT Met等位基因携带者更大。此外，正确的CA1量与加州言语学习测验II（CVLT-II）（F = 4.36，p = 0.041）以及CVLT-II延迟回忆（F = 6.44，p = 0.014）之间的相关性斜率）在COMT Val / Val纯合子和Met等位基因携带者之间存在显着差异，在COMT Val / Val组中为阳性或趋于阳性（CVLT立即召回，r = 0.319，p = 0.040; CVLT延迟召回，r = 0.304 ，p = 0.051），但在COMT Met等位基因携带者中不存在（CVLT立即召回，r = -0.263，p = 0.205； CVLT延迟召回，r = -0.351，p = 0.086）。这些发现可能为遗传效应对海马结构的影响提供新颖的见解，并暗示COMT和KIBRA的联合效应在海马与间隔记忆的相关性中发挥了调节作用。