title: GABRA2 genotype, impulsivity, and body mass.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The goal of this study was to test a hypothesis associating impulsivity with an elevated body mass index (BMI).
  
  
  METHODS
  To this end, we examined associations of BMI with putative genetic, neurophysiological, psychiatric, and psychological indicators of impulsivity in 78 women and 74 men formerly dependent on alcohol or drugs. A second analysis was designed to test the replicability of the genetic findings in an independent sample of 109 women and 111 men with a similar history of substance dependence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results of the first analysis showed that BMI was positively correlated with Total and Nonplanning Scale Scores on the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale and the number of childhood symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in women. It was also positively correlated, in women, with a GABRA2 variant previously implicated as a risk factor for substance dependence and an objective electroencephalographic feature previously associated with GABRA2 and relapse risk. The second analysis confirmed that the correlation between BMI and the substance-dependence-associated GABRA2 genotype was reliable and sex-specific.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that an elevated BMI is associated with genetic, neurophysiological, psychiatric, and psychological indicators of impulsivity. The sex difference may be explained by greater opportunities to eat and overeat, a preference for higher calorie foods, a longer duration of alcohol/drug abstinence, or previous pregnancies in women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut 06030-2103, USA.
authors.forename: Lance O
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Bao-Zhu
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Houston
authors.forename: Henry R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Kranzler
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gelernter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000235:genetics*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003237:Connecticut; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D011963:Receptors, GABA-A