A pilot genetic study of the continuum between compulsivity and impulsivity in females: the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism

Autor: Jerónimo Saiz-Ruiz, Montserrat Díaz Hernández, Helen Dolengevich Segal, Jose de Leon, Beatriz Rodríguez Salgado, José Fernández Piqueras, Manuel Arrojo Romero, Enrique Baca-García, Mercedes Navío Acosta, Concepcion Vaquero Lorenzo
Rok vydání: 2005
Předmět:
Zdroj: Progress in neuro-psychopharmacologybiological psychiatry. 29(5)
ISSN: 0278-5846
Popis: According to some authors the obsessive–compulsive (OC) spectrum includes on one extreme, the Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and on the other extreme the most impulsive behaviors. This is a controversial idea and other authors define the OC spectrum in different ways. The serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene is one of the main genes that control serotonergic function. A polymorphism in the promoter area of this gene classifies subjects with low expression as S individuals (s/s or s/l) and subjects with high expression as L individuals (l/l). This polymorphism was studied in female OCD patients ( n = 24), non-impulsive controls ( n = 112) and impulsive suicidal patients ( n = 118) to support the OC spectrum hypothesis from a genetic perspective. A linear association exists among the serotonin transporter promoter functional genotypes (S versus L individuals) ( χ 2 linear by linear association = 8.9; df = 1; p = 0.003). The frequency of S individuals (s/l or s/s) was lowest in OCD (54%, 13/24); intermediate in non-impulsive controls (71%, 80/112) and highest in impulsive suicide attempters (82%, 96/117). More importantly, future studies need to consider that genetics may be related to behavioral dimensions (compulsivity to impulsivity) instead of to specific psychiatric disorders defined in clinical terms.
Databáze: OpenAIRE