Schizophrenia Daily News Blog

Gene Variation tied to Aggression

Male patients with schizophrenia who have specific gene variants are associate with higher levels of aggression, suggests a recent research report.

    According to the recently published research from South Korea, "the incidence of aggressive behavior in patients with schizophrenia is higher than in the general population. Among particular gene polymorphisms posited to be involved in psychiatric disorders, the catecholamine-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and serotonin transporter (5-HTTPR) genes have been the focus of recent research on aggression."

    "In this study, we hypothesized that both the COMT and the 5-HTTPR genotypes may be dependent on and related to aggression in Korean patients with schizophrenia," wrote D.H. Han and colleagues, Chun Cheon National Hospital, Department of Psychiatry.

    "There was a statistically significant effect of 5-HTTPR genotype on mean total score. Thus, the COMT gene is associated with the severity of aggression and with physical aggression against other people, whereas the 5-HTTPR gene is associated with the summary score of all episodes of aggression," researchers concluded.

    Dr. Han and associated researchers recently released their findings in Psychiatry Research (Association of aggressive behavior in Korean male schizophrenic patients with polymorphisms in the serotonin transporter promoter and catecholamine-O-methyltransferase genes. Psychiat Res, 2004;129(1):29-37).