Baud Patrick, Courtet Philippe, Perroud Nader, Jollant Fabrice, Buresi Catherine, Malafosse Alain
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2007 Dec 5;144B(8):1042-7. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.b.30541.
Anger-related personality traits are considered contributory risk factors for suicidal behavior. According to twin studies, they are partially under genetic control and their various clinical expressions have been associated with serotonergic and catecholaminergic activities. A functional polymorphism on the human catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, which codes for the catecholamines inactivating enzyme COMT, has been shown to influence aggressive and anger-related traits in various clinical populations. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between anger traits (as characterized by the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, STAXI) and COMT Val158Met polymorphism in suicide attempters (n = 427) and control subjects (n = 185). Results showed that the high activity genotype (Val/Val) was more frequent in suicide attempters than in normal controls. Moreover, the Val/Val genotype markedly affected the scores on two STAXI subscales--Trait Anger and Anger Control--in female suicide attempters, thus suggesting a possible gender effect of the COMT genotype on a stable personality trait. These results are discussed in the light of recently published data on the effect of COMT Val158Met polymorphism on different cognitive and behavioral traits.
与愤怒相关的人格特质被认为是自杀行为的促成风险因素。根据双胞胎研究，它们部分受基因控制，其各种临床表型与血清素能和儿茶酚胺能活动有关。人类儿茶酚-O-甲基转移酶（COMT）基因上的一个功能多态性，该基因编码儿茶酚胺失活酶COMT，已被证明会影响不同临床人群中的攻击性和与愤怒相关的特质。本研究的目的是调查自杀未遂者（n = 427）和对照受试者（n = 185）中愤怒特质（以状态-特质愤怒表达量表，即STAXI为特征）与COMT Val158Met多态性之间的关联。结果显示，高活性基因型（Val/Val）在自杀未遂者中比在正常对照中更常见。此外，Val/Val基因型显著影响女性自杀未遂者在STAXI两个子量表——特质愤怒和愤怒控制上的得分，从而表明COMT基因型对稳定人格特质可能存在性别效应。根据最近发表的关于COMT Val158Met多态性对不同认知和行为特质影响的数据对这些结果进行了讨论。
