TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2001//
TI  - Aggressive behaviour in patients with schizophrenia is associated with catechol-O-methyltransferase genotype
JO  - British journal of psychiatry
A1  - Jones, G.
A1  - Zammit, Stanley
A1  - Norton, N.
A1  - Hamshere, Marian L.
A1  - Jones, S. J.
A1  - Milham, C.
A1  - Sanders, R. D.
A1  - McCarthy, G. M.
A1  - Jones, L. A.
A1  - Cardno, A. G.
A1  - Gray, M.
A1  - Murphy, K. C.
A1  - Owen, M. J.
SP  - 351
EP  - 355
VL  - 179
IS  - 
N2  - 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.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0007-1250
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -