The TPH intron 7 A218C polymorphism and TCI dimension scores in alcohol-dependent patients: hints to nonspecific psychopathology

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RESEARCH PRODUCT

The TPH intron 7 A218C polymorphism and TCI dimension scores in alcohol-dependent patients: hints to nonspecific psychopathology

Alexandra Schleicher Armin Szegedi Ion Anghelescu Peter Singer Hubertus Himmerich Christoph Klawe Norbert Dahmen Christoph Hiemke Christoph Fehr

subject

Adult Male Heterozygote endocrine system medicine.medical_specialty Genotype Medicine (miscellaneous)Tryptophan Hydroxylase Toxicology Impulsivity Gene Frequency Internal medicine Genotype medicine Humans Allele Temperament Psychiatric genetics Polymorphism Genetic Homozygote Tryptophan hydroxylase medicine.disease Introns Alcoholism Psychiatry and Mental health Clinical Psychology Endocrinology Case-Control Studies Impulsive Behavior Harm avoidance Female Temperament and Character Inventory medicine.symptom Psychology Psychopathology Clinical psychology

description

Abstract Aims A linkage of certain alleles of the tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) intron 7 A218C polymorphism to suicidality and antisocial behaviour has been described. The aim of our study was to find any association between dimensions of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) indicating impulsivity and the TPH polymorphism alleles in unselected alcohol-dependent patients and age-matched controls. Methods We examined 159 alcohol-dependent patients and 161 controls with the TCI and genotyped them for the TPH intron 7 A218C polymorphism alleles. Results Although homozygous TPH genotypes were found more often in alcohol-dependent patients than in controls, an association between TCI dimensions and TPH alleles was not observed in the complete sample. Alcohol-dependent patients, however, scored significantly higher for harm avoidance (HA) and lower for self-directedness (SD) than controls regardless of TPH genotype. Among controls, for those with the A/A genotype, harm avoidance was as high as in the group of alcohol-dependent patients, persistence (P) in that genotype was significantly lower than for all other genotypes in the patient and control group. Conclusion Even if there is no association between TCI dimensions and TPH genotype in our sample, hints to nonspecific psychopathology in connection with the A/A genotype are found.

year	journal	country	edition	language
2004-09-24	Addictive Behaviors

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2004.11.002