title: Val158Met COMT polymorphism and risk of aggression in alcohol dependence.
abstract: Aggression, violence and antisocial behavior are common in alcoholism, but their biological basis is poorly understood. Several studies and recent meta-analyses indicate that in schizophrenia the catecholamine-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met genotype may be associated with aggression, most often in methionine allele carriers. We tested this hypothesis in a sample of treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent in-patients (293 German patients and 499 controls, and additional 190 Polish patients as replication sample). As expected, patients with a history of violent or non-violent crime were more often male, had an earlier onset of alcoholism and more withdrawal seizures and delirium tremens, and were more likely to have a history of suicide attempts. COMT genotype was not associated with a history of violent or non-violent crime. More studies are needed on the neurobiological basis of aggression and violence in alcoholism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig Maximilian University, Germany; Privatklinik Meiringen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soyka
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zill
authors.forename: Gabi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koller
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Samochowiec
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grzywacz
authors.forename: Ulrich W
authors.initials: UW
authors.lastname: Preuss
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression; D000437:Alcoholism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D003415:Crime; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D014754:Violence
chemical_list: C588010:COMT protein, human; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase
keywords: Aggression; COMT; alcohol; alcoholism; genetics