Association between GPx-1 polymorphisms and personality traits in healthy Chinese-Han subjects

Cloninger developed the three-dimensional personality theory and Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ), which shows that some dimensions of personality traits are heritable and related to neurotransmitters including dopamine. glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPx1) plays an important role in metabolic dopamine change and closely relates to neurological and psychiatric disorders. The impact of GPx-1 polymorphisms has been rarely explored in the field of personality traits. We decide to explore the relationships between them in healthy Chinese-Han subjects by using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).

In our study, 493 healthy Chinese-Han participants (male = 234, female = 259) were recruited. 2 ml of EDTA-treated blood from each volunteer was taken; meanwhile, personality traits were assessed by TPQ. We detected the genotypes of selected two polymorphisms through PCR-RFLP after extracting DNA. Finally, the association between different genotypes and TPQ scores was performed using SPSS, p < .05 is seen as significant statistical significance.

Our data found a correlation between rs1800668 and novelty seeking (NS) subscale NS2 (X²  = 7.392, p = .025). While the results showed the rs1050450 was significantly associated with NS4 (X²  = 6.059, p = .048). Regarding sex stratification, there was a significant difference in the NS2 score (X²  = 8.232, p = .016) among women for rs1800668. No sex effect was observed for either genotype for rs1050450.

GPx-1polymorphism is related to personality traits in healthy Chinese-Han subjects. Our results suggested that GPx-1 may be involved in the biological mechanisms and be a potential gene that influenced personality.