title: Porcine maternal infanticide as a model for puerperal psychosis.
abstract: Childbirth is a period of substantial rapid biological and psychological change and a wide range of psychotic disorders can occur ranging from mild 'baby blues' to severe episodes of psychotic illnesses. Puerperal psychosis is the most extreme form of postnatal psychosis, occurring in 1 in 1,000 births. In this study, we have used the pig as an animal model for human postnatal psychiatric illness. Our aim was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with maternal (infanticide) sow aggression. This is defined by sows attacking and killing their own newborn offspring, within 24 hr of birth. An affected sib pair whole genome linkage analysis was carried out with 80 microsatellite markers covering the 18 porcine autosomes and the X chromosome, with the aim of identifying chromosomal regions responsible for this abnormal behavior. Analysis was carried out using the non-parametric linkage test of Whittemore and Halpern, as implemented in the Merlin software. The results identified 4 QTL mapping on Sus scrofa chromosomes 2 (SSC2), 10 (SSC10), and X (SSCX). The peak regions of these QTL are syntenic to HSA 5q14.3-15, 1q32, Xpter-Xp2.1, and Xq2.4-Xqter, respectively. Several potential candidate genes lie in these regions in addition to relevant abnormal behavioral QTL, found in humans and rodents.
authors.affiliation: Human Molecular Genetics Group, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, UK. crq20@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Claire R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Quilter
authors.forename: Sarah C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Blott
authors.forename: Anna E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Meenakshi R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Bagga
authors.forename: Carole A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Sargent
authors.forename: Gina L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.forename: Olwen I
authors.initials: OI
authors.lastname: Southwood
authors.forename: Colin L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mileham
authors.forename: Nabeel A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Affara
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000235:genetics*; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D034421:Sus scrofa