title: Exploratory factor analysis of obsessive-compulsive patients and association with 5-HTTLPR polymorphism.
abstract: The determination of a genetic basis for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) depends on how phenotypic boundaries are defined. Although a hypothesis for serotonin dysfunction in OCD has been advanced, no genes specifically responsible for serotonin regulation have as yet been definitively related to the etiology of OCD. The phenotypic variability of OCD could be at the basis of the failure of molecular biology investigations to find any genes involved in the liability to the disorder. Obsessive and compulsive contents can aggregate in OCD patients differently; multifactorial description may therefore be able to account for OCD phenotypic variance. Using principal component analysis, we derived five factors from 13 main contents of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS), and considered them as quantitative phenotypes to evaluate their possible association with an insertion/deletion polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR). A trend toward positive association between the fifth factor, including counting and repeating rituals, and 5-HTTLPR was found. However, only considering the subgroup of patients with tic codiagnosis, we found a significantly higher score for the fifth factor for patients with L/L genotype with respect to L/S and S/S genotypes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatric Sciences, Fondazione Centro San Raffaele del Monte Tabor, Milan, Italy. cavallini.cristina@hsr.it
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Cavallini
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Di Bella
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Siliprandi
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Malchiodi
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bellodi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D000483:Alleles; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009770:Obsessive Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D004247:DNA