The Association Between Affective Temperament Traits and Dopamine Genes in Obese Population

Studies indicate the heritable nature of affective temperament, which shows personality traits predisposing to the development of mental disorders. Dopaminergic gene polymorphisms such as DRD4, COMTVal158Met, and DAT1 have been linked to affective disorders in obesity. Due to possible correlation between the aforementioned polymorphisms and the affective temperament, the aim of our research was to investigate this connection in an obese population. The study enrolled 245 obese patients (178 females; 67 males). The affective temperament was assessed using the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A). Genetic polymorphisms of DAT1, COMTVal158Met and DRD4 were collected from peripheral blood sample and determined using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Only in COMT polymorphisms, the cyclothymic and irritable dimensions were significantly associated with Met/Val carriers (p = 0.04; p = 0.01). Another interesting finding was the correlation between the affective temperament and age in men and women. We assume that dopamine transmission in heterozygotes of COMT may determine the role of the affective temperament in obese persons. Dopaminergic transmission modulated by COMT may be responsible for a greater temperament expression in obese individuals. To our knowledge, this is the first study describing the role of affective temperament in the obese population, but more research is needed in this regard.