COMT polymorphisms in impulsively violent offenders with antisocial personality disorder.

Objective: The relationship between catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) polymorphisms and violent behaviour was tested in highly selected group of non-psychotic violent offenders.

Methods: We conducted an association study comparing 47 male repeatedly sentenced for impulsive violent attacks diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) with 43 healthy male controls matched on education. Three COMT polymorphisms were analysed: COMT Val158Met and COMT Ala146Val on exon 4, and untranslated polymorphism on the 6th exon, at the regulatory region of the COMT gene with deletion-insertion character del/C.

ADHD and growth: anthropometric changes in medicated and non-medicated ADHD boys.

Background: ADHD children can show changes in growth and development. Many studies describe these changes as a side effect of stimulant medication. However, changes in somatic development can also appear in non-medicated children.

Anthropometric changes in non-medicated ADHD boys.

Objectives: The aim of the study is to compare complex anthropometric characteristics in non medicated boys with ADHD and normal population.

Methods: Complex anthropometric examination of non-medicated ADHD boys (n=46, average age 11.03 years), statistical and clinical comparison to the actual population growth norm.

Brain wave P300: a comparative study of various forms of criminal activity.

Background: This comparative and comprehensive study builds on a previous study comparing the P300 wave of impulsively violent delinquents and a non-impulsive non-delinquent group. The purpose was to investigate changes in P300 cognitive evoked potentials, especially the amplitude and latency at the Pz electrode site.

Material/methods: The P300 parameters of perpetrators of various types of criminal offences and those of a control group matched for age, gender, and educational status were compared (N=80).

Analysis of a promoter polymorphism in the SMDF neuregulin 1 isoform in Schizophrenia.

Background/aims: Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) is a positional candidate gene in schizophrenia (SZ). Two major susceptibility loci in the NRG1 gene approximately one million nucleotides apart have been identified in genetic studies. Several candidate functional allelic variants have been described that might be involved in disease susceptibility.

P300 wave: a comparative study of impulsive aggressive criminals.

Event-Related potentials are a simple non-invasive neurophysiological method enabling to comprehend certain aspects of the cognitive processing of information in humans. The best-known component of Event-Related Potentials is the so-called P3 wave. Alterations in the parameters of P300 wave have been discovered in certain personality disorders and in persons with impulsively aggressive behaviour.

Screening of PIP5K2A promoter region for mutations in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Objective: To analyze the promoter region of PIP5K2A, a phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase that maps to 10p in a region linked to both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Methods: The promoter region was screened by single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and DNA sequencing. Allele frequencies were determined in a case-control study.

Analysis of SYNJ1, a candidate gene for 21q22 linked bipolar disorder: a replication study.

Linkage analysis has shown that chromosome 21q22 may contain a candidate gene for bipolar disorder (BPD). One potential 21q22 candidate gene we previously analyzed is SYNJ1, which encodes synaptojanin 1, an inositol 5-phosphatase. Previous mutation screening of SYNJ1 identified three rare functional variants, one of which is a polymorphic variant near the intron 12-oxon 12 border.

Identification of PIK3C3 promoter variant associated with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Background: Genes involved in phosphoinositide (PI) lipid metabolism are excellent candidates to consider in the pathogenesis of bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ). One is PIK3C3, a member of the phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase family that maps closely to markers on 18q linked to both BD and SZ in a few studies.

Methods: The promoter region of PIK3C3 was analyzed for mutations by single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and sequencing.

Polymorphism screening of PIP5K2A: a candidate gene for chromosome 10p-linked psychiatric disorders.

Lithium is a potent noncompetitive inhibitor of inositol monophosphatases, enzymes involved in phosphoinositide (PI) and inositol phosphate metabolism. A critical component of the PI pathway is phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P(2)), which is hydrolyzed to second messengers and has a direct role in synaptic vesicle function. Interestingly, a number of genes involved in the synthesis and dephosphorylation of PtdIns(4,5)P(2) are found in regions of the genome previously mapped in bipolar disorder (BD) including 10p12, 21q22, and 22q11, among others.