Personality influences several characteristics of normal and pathologic behaviors and it is associated with neurotransmitter systems that are under genetic control. The dopaminergic system has been proposed to play a role in the modulation of personality traits. In the present study, variants of the tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and DOPA decarboxylase (DDC) genes (for TH: rs3842727, rs6356; for DDC: rs1451371, rs1470750, rs998850) were investigated in 111 suicide attempters and 289 healthy subjects to assess the involvement of the dopaminergic synthesis pathway in personality traits. No strong evidence was found for the associations between personality and TH or DDC in overall tests. An interaction effect of genotype and diagnosis was present, with TH and DDC SNPs having a greater effect on the respective personality dimensions in the group of suicide attempters. Because of the risk of false positives, these findings should be interpreted with highest caution. Direct replication attempts within independent groups of suicide attempters will help to resolve this question.

Keywords:
Tyrosine hydroxylase, DOPA decarboxylase, Personality traits, Genetics, Dopaminergic system
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© 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel
2009
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