title: Polymorphism in the serotonin receptor 2a (HTR2A) gene as possible predisposal factor for aggressive traits.
abstract: Aggressive manifestations and their consequences are a major issue of mankind, highlighting the need for understanding the contributory factors. Still, aggression-related genetic analyses have so far mainly been conducted on small population subsets such as individuals suffering from a certain psychiatric disorder or a narrow-range age cohort, but no data on the general population is yet available. In the present study, our aim was to identify polymorphisms in genes affecting neurobiological processes that might explain some of the inter-individual variation between aggression levels in the non-clinical Caucasian adult population. 55 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were simultaneously determined in 887 subjects who also filled out the self-report Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ). Single marker association analyses between genotypes and aggression scores indicated a significant role of rs7322347 located in the HTR2A gene encoding serotonin receptor 2a following Bonferroni correction for multiple testing (p = 0.0007) both for males and females. Taking the four BPAQ subscales individually, scores for Hostility, Anger and Physical Aggression showed significant association with rs7322347 T allele in themselves, while no association was found with Verbal Aggression. Of the subscales, relationship with rs7322347 was strongest in the case of Hostility, where statistical significance virtually equaled that observed with the whole BPAQ. In conclusion, this is the first study to our knowledge analyzing SNPs in a wide variety of genes in terms of aggression in a large sample-size non-clinical adult population, also describing a novel candidate polymorphism as predisposal to aggressive traits.
authors: Department of Medical Chemistry, Molecular Biology and Pathobiochemistry, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: Zsofia
authors: Z
authors: Banlaki
authors: Department of Medical Chemistry, Molecular Biology and Pathobiochemistry, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: Zsuzsanna
authors: Z
authors: Elek
authors: Department of Medical Chemistry, Molecular Biology and Pathobiochemistry, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: Tibor
authors: T
authors: Nanasi
authors: Institute of Psychology, Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Szekely
authors: Department of Medical Chemistry, Molecular Biology and Pathobiochemistry, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: Zsofia
authors: Z
authors: Nemoda
authors: Department of Medical Chemistry, Molecular Biology and Pathobiochemistry, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Sasvari-Szekely
authors: Department of Medical Chemistry, Molecular Biology and Pathobiochemistry, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: Zsolt
authors: Z
authors: Ronai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology*; D000483:Alleles; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D005838:Genotype; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A / Q000235:genetics*; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A