The placebo effect has a genetic explanation, according to American researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles.

The study involved 84 people with severe depressive disorder. Participants in the experiment were divided into two groups: 32 people received the necessary treatment, the remaining 52 patients were given placebo. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology.

Then the scientists compared the variants of the genes encoding the enzymes monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). These substances regulate the exchange of dopamine and norepinephrine by means of which impulses are transmitted in the nervous system.

Experts in the study found that people with a variant of the MAO-A gene, providing the highest level of activity of this enzyme, are much less susceptible to the placebo effect than patients with other variants of this gene. A similar relationship was found in patients with a low level of COMT activity.

Scientists concluded that the effectiveness of placebo depends on many factors: both physiological and psychological. However, the results of the study indicate that the susceptibility to the placebo effect is largely determined by the genetic characteristics of the individual, experts specified.

Medicinform. Net.