Serotonin in alcoholic violent offenders

Finnish alcoholic, impulsive, habitually violent offenders have been found to have low brain serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) turnover which is associated with impaired impulse control, a history of suicide attempts, hypoglycaemic tendency after an oral glucose load and diurnal activity rhythm dysregulation or hyperactivity. Relatively high cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) free testosterone concentration is a further characteristic of the offenders with antisocial personality disorder. The impulsive offenders may represent a behaviourally extreme group of type 2 alcoholics as defined by Cloninger. A large cohort of 800 subjects, including alcoholic violent offenders, their relatives and male controls, has now been gathered from Finland with support from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. About 200 subjects have provided CSF samples. Leukocytes from the whole cohort have been harvested and immortalized. Genes regulating 5-HT functions are now being systematically analysed from these samples. Thus far, polymorphisms of the tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) and 5-HT2C receptor genes have been the most informative findings.