Aggressive behaviour in patients with schizophrenia is associated with catechol-O-methyltransferase genotype

Jones, Gaynor, Zammit, Stanley ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2647-9211, Norton, Nadine ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3848-4288, Hamshere, Marian Lindsay ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8990-0958, Jones, S. J., Milham, C., Sanders, R. D., McCarthy, G. M., Jones, L. A., Cardno, Alastair G., Gray, M., Murphy, K. C. and Owen, Michael John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4798-0862 2001. Aggressive behaviour in patients with schizophrenia is associated with catechol-O-methyltransferase genotype. British Journal of Psychiatry 179 (4) , pp. 351-355. 10.1192/bjp.179.4.351

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Abstract

Background Evidence exists for an association between aggression and schizophrenia. Although the aetiology of aggression is multifactorial, three studies have reported associations between polymorphisms of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene and aggression in schizophrenia. Aims To replicate these findings in a larger sample using the Overt Aggression Scale (OAS). Method A sample of 180 people with DSM—IV schizophrenia were rated for aggression using the OAS. Kruskal—Wallis and contingency table analyses were applied to the OAS results. Results The high-activity homozygotes showed significantly higher scores of aggression, whereas the heterozygotes showed significantly lower scores. The odds ratio for aggression for the high-activity homozygotes was 2.07 (95% Cl=1.03-4.15), whereas that for the heterozygotes was 0.54 (95% Cl=0.30-1.00). Conclusions The high-activity COMT homozygote confers a higher risk of recorded aggression in schizophrenia. Heterozygotes had a significantly lower risk, which may represent an example of heterosis/heterozygote advantage.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics (CNGG) Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute (NMHRI)
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Publisher:	Royal College of Psychiatrists
ISSN:	0007-1250
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	09 Nov 2022 09:17
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/44678

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