Association between serum levels of C-reactive protein and personality traits in women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>While low-grade inflammation has consistently been observed in subjects with depression, studies on the possible relationship between inflammation and other aspects of brain function are as yet sparse. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possible association between serum levels of the inflammation marker C-reactive protein (CRP) and personality traits.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, serum levels of high-sensitivity CRP were determined by ELISA in a population of 270 42-year-old women recruited from the population registry who had been assessed using the Temperament and Character Inventory. Self-reported previous or ongoing depression was also recorded. Unpaired two-tailed <it>t</it>-tests were used for comparison between two groups and correlations were evaluated by the calculation of Pearson's r-coefficient.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The temperament trait harm avoidance was positively (<it>r </it>= 0.227, <it>p </it>< 0.05) and the character trait self-directedness was negatively (<it>r </it>= -0.261, <it>p </it>< 0.01) associated with serum levels of CRP (<it>p</it>-values corrected for multiple comparisons). The correlations between the personality traits and CRP were observed also after exclusion of subjects reporting ongoing depression (n = 26). Whereas women reporting ongoing depression showed significantly increased levels of CRP as compared to non-depressed women (n = 155), women reporting a history of depression displayed no significant difference in CRP levels as compared to women that reported that they had never been depressed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Serum levels of CRP in women was found to be associated with the personality traits harm avoidance and self-directedness. In addition, moderately elevated levels may be a state dependent marker of depression.</p

Variation in the oxytocin receptor gene is associated with behavioral and neural correlates of empathic accuracy

The neuromodulators oxytocin and serotonin have been implicated in regulating affective processes underlying empathy. Understanding this dependency, however, has been limited by a lack of objective metrics for measuring empathic performance. Here we employ a novel psychophysical method for measuring empathic performance that quantitatively measures the ability of subjects to decode the experience of another person's pain. In 50 female subjects, we acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging data as they were exposed to a target subject experiencing variable degrees of pain, whilst performing an irrelevant attention-demanding task. We investigated the effect of variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) and the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) on the psychophysical and neurometric variability associated with empathic performance. The OXTR rs2268498 and rs53576 polymorphisms, but not the SLC6A4 5-HTTLPR, were associated with significant differences in empathic accuracy, with CC- and AA-carriers, respectively, displaying higher empathic accuracy. For OXTR rs2268498 there was also a genotype difference in the correlation between empathic accuracy and activity in the superior temporal sulcus (STS). In OXTR rs2268498 CC-carriers, high empathic accuracy was associated with stronger responsiveness of the right STS to the observed pain. Together, the results show that genetic variation in the OXTR has significant influence on empathic accuracy and that this may be linked to variable responsivity of the STS

On the influence of serotonin- and sex steroid-related genetic variation on mood, anxiety, personality, autism and transsexualism

Background: The neurotransmitter serotonin has been related to mood and anxiety, and variation in genes that encode important members of the serotonergic system may hence affect mood- and anxiety-related traits. Sex steroids influence brain development, and variation in genes encoding androgen and estrogen receptors, or enzymes needed for sex steroid synthesis, may be of importance for both personality traits and risk for psychiatric disorders. The specific aims of this thesis were: (i) to investigate the possible influence of serotonin-related genetic variation on the neural correlates of anxiety, and on mood- and anxiety-related phenotypes, including premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), depression and anxiety-related personality traits, (ii) to investigate the possible influence of sex steroid-related genetic variation on personality, autism spectrum disorder and transsexualism, and (iii) to try to ameliorate the chance of detecting effects of combinations of genetic variations by restricting the statistical analysis to particular patterns. Results: (i) The serotonin transporter (5-HTT) linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) and a polymorphism in an important enzyme for serotonin synthesis (tryptophan hydroxylase 2; TPH2) were associated with amygdala response during presentation of angry faces in subjects with social phobia and controls. (ii) The same polymorphisms were associated with response to placebo and also with placebo-induced changes in amygdala activity during public speaking in subjects with social phobia. (iii) In men, genetic variation in the neurotrophic factor BDNF, which is closely related to the serotonergic system, was associated with the amount of serotonin transporter in the brain. (iv) Polymorphisms in genes that encode proteins important for the development of the serotonergic system (GATA2), for serotonin synthesis (TPH2) and for serotonergic transmission (5-HT3B) were associated with PMDD. (v) The 5-HTTLPR was shown to influence reports of controllable stressful life events in combination with the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism or anxiety-related personality traits in non-depressed men. (vi) Variants that may increase the function of the androgen receptor were associated with extraversion and spiritual acceptance in men. (vii) A variant that is associated with increased androgen receptor function was more common in women with autism spectrum disorder than in controls. (viii) The same androgen receptor polymorphism was associated with transsexualism in combination with polymorphisms in the genes encoding the estrogen receptor β or the testosterone-converting aromatase enzyme. (ix) A method that restricts the search for genetic combinations to monotone effect patterns was shown to increase the probability of finding gene-gene effects. Conclusions: The results support the notion that variation in genes that encode serotonin-related and sex steroid-related proteins are of importance for the psychiatric traits studied in this thesis

The Center for Integrated Molecular Brain Imaging (Cimbi) database

AbstractWe here describe a multimodality neuroimaging containing data from healthy volunteers and patients, acquired within the Lundbeck Foundation Center for Integrated Molecular Brain Imaging (Cimbi) in Copenhagen, Denmark. The data is of particular relevance for neurobiological research questions related to the serotonergic transmitter system with its normative data on the serotonergic subtype receptors 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B, 5-HT2A, and 5-HT4 and the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT), but can easily serve other purposes.The Cimbi database and Cimbi biobank were formally established in 2008 with the purpose to store the wealth of Cimbi-acquired data in a highly structured and standardized manner in accordance with the regulations issued by the Danish Data Protection Agency as well as to provide a quality-controlled resource for future hypothesis-generating and hypothesis-driven studies.The Cimbi database currently comprises a total of 1100 PET and 1000 structural and functional MRI scans and it holds a multitude of additional data, such as genetic and biochemical data, and scores from 17 self-reported questionnaires and from 11 neuropsychological paper/computer tests. The database associated Cimbi biobank currently contains blood and in some instances saliva samples from about 500 healthy volunteers and 300 patients with e.g., major depression, dementia, substance abuse, obesity, and impulsive aggression. Data continue to be added to the Cimbi database and biobank

The role of identification for the motivational force of moral judgments

What is the relationship between judging something as good and being motivated to acton this judgment? Motivational internalism is the thesis that there is a necessaryconnection between moral judgments and motivation. Externalists typically believe that ajudgment-independent desire is needed for the moral judgment to be motivating. Tobridge the gap between internalism and externalism, a few philosophers have appealed totheories of identification-based moral judgments. This implies that although moraljudgments may not be necessarily motivating in general, it could be possible to define acertain kind of identification-based moral judgment that is necessarily motivating. HereinI will examine the role identification plays for moral motivation. I will first analyse anargument that uses an identification-incompatible moral judgment to show thatinternalism is false. I will argue that this argument is unconvincing and that identificationdoes not preclude identification-incompatible moral judgments from being motivating.The identification-based argument hence does not support that internalism is false.Second, I will argue that identification can provide the motivational force needed to makecertain identity-based moral judgments necessarily motivating. This identification-basedaccount does however, I will argue, not support internalism. Despite presenting a kind ofmoral judgment that is necessarily motivating, it is an externalist account of theconnection between moral judgments and motivation since a judgment-independentdesire is a necessary source of its motivational force

The role of identification for the motivational force of moral judgments

What is the relationship between judging something as good and being motivated to acton this judgment? Motivational internalism is the thesis that there is a necessaryconnection between moral judgments and motivation. Externalists typically believe that ajudgment-independent desire is needed for the moral judgment to be motivating. Tobridge the gap between internalism and externalism, a few philosophers have appealed totheories of identification-based moral judgments. This implies that although moraljudgments may not be necessarily motivating in general, it could be possible to define acertain kind of identification-based moral judgment that is necessarily motivating. HereinI will examine the role identification plays for moral motivation. I will first analyse anargument that uses an identification-incompatible moral judgment to show thatinternalism is false. I will argue that this argument is unconvincing and that identificationdoes not preclude identification-incompatible moral judgments from being motivating.The identification-based argument hence does not support that internalism is false.Second, I will argue that identification can provide the motivational force needed to makecertain identity-based moral judgments necessarily motivating. This identification-basedaccount does however, I will argue, not support internalism. Despite presenting a kind ofmoral judgment that is necessarily motivating, it is an externalist account of theconnection between moral judgments and motivation since a judgment-independentdesire is a necessary source of its motivational force

Detecting two-locus gene-gene effects using monotonisation of the penetrance matrix

As more genetic loci are genotyped simultaneously and as the interest in effects of combinations of loci increases, the need for more powerful analysis methods is increased. In the present paper we present a method aimed at increasing the power of likelihood ratio tests for case-control studies investigating possible two-locus effects. The method is based on the notion that the expected effect pattern of one locus, as well as the expected pattern of a penetrance matrix representing the effect of two loci, is a monotone one. By using an algorithm for making the estimated penetrance matrix monotone, the alternative hypothesis is restricted to monotone penetrance matrices only. The evaluation of the likelihood ratio tests for several underlying monotone models shows that the power is substantially increased by using a monotone alternative as compared to when an unrestricted alternative is used

Detecting two-locus gene-gene effects using monotonisation of the penetrance matrix

As more genetic loci are genotyped simultaneously and as the interest in effects of combinations of loci increases, the need for more powerful analysis methods is increased. In the present paper we present a method aimed at increasing the power of likelihood ratio tests for case-control studies investigating possible two-locus effects. The method is based on the notion that the expected effect pattern of one locus, as well as the expected pattern of a penetrance matrix representing the effect of two loci, is a monotone one. By using an algorithm for making the estimated penetrance matrix monotone, the alternative hypothesis is restricted to monotone penetrance matrices only. The evaluation of the likelihood ratio tests for several underlying monotone models shows that the power is substantially increased by using a monotone alternative as compared to when an unrestricted alternative is used

Detecting Two-Locus Gene-Gene Effects Using Monotonisation of the Penetrance Matrix

As more genetic loci are genotyped simultaneously and as the interest in effects of combinations of loci increases, the need for more powerful analysis methods is increased. In the present paper we present a method aimed at increasing the power of likelihood ratio tests for case-control studies investigating possible two-locus effects. The method is based on the notion that the expected effect pattern of one locus, as well as the expected pattern of a penetrance matrix representing the effect of two loci, is a monotone one. By using an algorithm for making the estimated penetrance matrix monotone, the alternative hypothesis is restricted to monotone penetrance matrices only. The evaluation of the likelihood ratio tests for several underlying monotone models shows that the power is substantially increased by using a monotone alternative as compared to when an unrestricted alternative is used.genetics, case-control, power, two-locus, monotone,