Abstract
Trichotillomania (TTM), an obsessive–compulsive spectrum disorder (OCSD), is a psychiatric condition characterized by repetitive hair pulling. Evidence from family and twin studies suggest a heritable link of TTM. Functional polymorphisms in genes involved in neuronal pathways might influence the susceptibility to TTM. This review is an attempt to compile the genetic factors reported to modify the development of TTM.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association 1994 Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edition. American Psychiatric Association, Washington D.C., USA.
American Psychiatric Association 2000 DSM-IV-TR. American Psychiatric Association, Washington D.C., USA.
Bienvenu O. J., Wang Y., Shugart Y. Y., Welch J. M., Grados M. A., Fyer A. J. et al. 2009 Sapap3 and pathological grooming in humans: results from the OCD collaborative genetics study. Am. J. Med. Genet. B Neuropsychiatr. Genet. 150, 710–720.
Christenson G. A., Pyle R. L. and Mitchell J. E. 1991 Estimated lifetime prevalence of trichotillomania in college students. J. Clin. Psychiatry 52, 415–417.
Christenson G. A., Mackenzie T. B. and Reeve E. A. 1992 Familial trichotillomania. Am. J. Psychiatry 149, 283.
Dodman N. H., Karlsson E. K., Moon-Fanelli A., Galdzicka M., Perloski M., Shuster L. et al. 2010 A canine chromosome 7 locus confers compulsive disorder susceptibility. Mol. Psychiatry 15, 8–10.
Eliott A. J. and Fuqua R. W. 2000 Trichotilomania: conceptualization, measurement, and treatment. Behav. Ther. 31, 529–545.
Galski T. 1983 Hair pulling (trichotillomania). Psychoanal. Rev. 70, 331–346.
Hemmings S. M., Kinnear C. J., Lochner C., Seedat S., Corfield V. A., Moolman-Smook J. C. and Stein D. J. 2006 Genetic correlates in trichotillomania–a case–control association study in the South African Caucasian population. Isr. J. Psychiatry Relat. Sci. 43, 93–101.
Himle J. A., Bordnick P. S. and Thyer B. A. 1995 A comparison of trichotillomania and obsessive-compulsive disorder. J. Psychopathol. Behav. Assess. 17, 251–260.
Hollander E. B. and Benzaquen S. D. 1997 The obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. Int. Rev. Psychiatry 9, 99–109.
Katayama K., Yamada K., Ornthanalai V. G., Inoue T., Ota M., Murphy N. P. and Aruga J. 2010 Slitrk1-deficient mice display elevated anxiety-like behavior and noradrenergic abnormalities. Mol. Psychiatry 15, 177–184.
Kerbeshian J. and Burd L. 1991 Familial trichotillomania. Am. J. Psychiatry 148, 684–685.
Khait V. D., Huang Y. Y., Zalsman G., Oquendo M. A., Brent D. A., Harkavy-Friedman J. M. and Mann J. J. 2005 Association of serotonin 5-HT2A receptor binding and the T102C polymorphism in depressed and healthy Caucasian subjects. Neuropsychopharmacology 30, 166–172.
King R. A., Scahill L., Vitulano L. A., Schwab-Stone M., Tercyak Jr K. P. and Riddle M. A. 1995 Childhood trichotillomania: clinical phenomenology, comorbidity, and family genetics. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 34, 1451–1459.
Lenane M. C., Swedo S. E., Rapoport J. L., Leonard H., Sceery W. and Guroff J. J. 1992 Rates of obsessive compulsive disorder in first degree relatives of patients with trichotillomania: a research note. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 33, 925–933.
Lochner C., Hemmings S. M., Kinnear C. J., Niehaus D. J., Nel D. G., Corfield V. A. et al. 2005 Cluster analysis of obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: clinical and genetic correlates. Compr. Psychiatry 46, 14–19.
Mah A. K. 2010 SLITRK5, a protein that links striatal deficits to OCD-like behaviours in mice. Clin. Genet. 78, 350–352.
Mansueto C. S., Thomas A. M. and Brice A. L. 2007 Hair pulling and its affective correlates in an African-American university sample. J. Anxiety Disord. 21, 590–599.
Miguel E. C., Baer L., Coffey B. J., Rauch S. L., Savage C. R., O’Sullivan R. L. et al. 1997 Phenomenological differences appearing with repetitive behaviours in obsessive-compulsive disorder and Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome. Br. J. Psychiatry 170, 140–145.
Molloy A. G. and Waddington J. L. 1987 Assessment of grooming and other behavioural responses to the D-1 dopamine receptor agonist SK & F 38393 and its R- and S-enantiomers in the intact adult rat. Psychopharmacology 92, 164–168.
Nicolini H., Arnold P., Nestadt G., Lanzagorta N. and Kennedy J. L. 2009 Overview of genetics and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Res. 170, 7–14.
Norrholm S. D. and Ressler K. J. 2009 Genetics of anxiety and trauma-related disorders. Neuroscience 164, 272–287.
Novak C. E., Keuthen N. J., Stewart S. E. and Pauls D. L. 2009 A twin concordance study of trichotillomania. Am. J. Med. Genet. B Neuropsychiatr. Genet. 150, 944–949.
Okuyama Y., Ishiguro H., Toru M. and Arinami T. 1999 A genetic polymorphism in the promoter region of DRD4 associated with expression and schizophrenia. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 258, 292–295.
Ooki S. 2005 Genetic and environmental influences on finger-sucking and nail-biting in Japanese twin children. Twin Res. Hum. Genet. 8, 320–327.
O’Rourke J. A., Scharf J. M., Yu D. and Pauls D. L. 2009 The genetics of Tourette syndrome: a review. J. Psychosom. Res. 67, 533–545.
Polesskaya O. O. and Sokolov B. P. 2002 Differential expression of the “C” and “T” alleles of the 5-HT2A receptor gene in the temporal cortex of normal individuals and schizophrenics. J. Neurosci. Res. 67, 812–822.
Rothbaum B. O., Shaw L., Morris R. and Ninan P. T. 1993 Prevalence of trichotillomania in a college freshman population. J. Clin. Psychiatry 54, 72–73.
Rubinstein M., Phillips T. J., Bunzow J. R., Falzone T. L., Dziewczapolski G., Zhang G. et al. 1997 Mice lacking dopamine D4 receptors are supersensitive to ethanol, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Cell 90, 991–1001.
Sanderson K. V. and Hall-Smith P. 1970 Tonsure trichotillomania. Br. J. Dermatol. 82, 343–350.
Scannevin R. H. and Huganir R. L. 2000 Postsynaptic organization and regulation of excitatory synapses. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 1, 133–141.
Schlosser S., Black D. W., Blum N. and Goldstein R. B. 1994 The demography, phenomenology, and family history of 22 persons with compulsive hair pulling. Ann. Clin. Psychiatry 6, 147–152.
Stein D. J. 2000 Neurobiology of the obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. Biol. Psychiatry 47, 296–304.
Swedo S. E. and Rapoport J. S. 1991 Rates of obsessive compulsive disorder in first degree relatives of patients with trichotillomania: a research note. annotation: Trichotillomania. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 32, 401–409.
Swedo S. E. and Leonard H. L. 1992 Trichotillomania. An obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder? Psychiatr. Clin. North Am. 15, 777–790.
Swedo S. E., Leonard H. L., Rapoport J. L., Lenane M. C., Goldberger E. L. and Cheslow D. L. 1989 A double-blind comparison of clomipramine and desipramine in the treatment of trichotillomania (hair pulling). N. Engl. J. Med. 321, 497–501.
Tarazi F. I. and Baldessarini R. J. 1999 Dopamine D4 receptors: significance for molecular psychiatry at the millennium. Mol. Psychiatry 4, 529–538.
Van Ameringen M., Mancini C., Oakman J. M. and Farvolden P. 1999 The potential role of haloperidol in the treatment of trichotillomania. J. Affect Disord. 56, 219–226.
Wachtel S. R., Brooderson R. J. and White F. J. 1992 Parametric and pharmacological analyses of the enhanced grooming response elicited by the D1 dopamine receptor agonist SKF 38393 in the rat. Psychopharmacology 109, 41–48.
Welch J. M., Lu J., Rodriguiz R. M., Trotta N. C., Peca J., Ding J. D. et al. 2007 Cortico-striatal synaptic defects and OCD-like behaviours in Sapap3-mutant mice. Nature 448, 894–900.
Zuchner S., Cuccaro M. L., Tran-Viet K. N., Cope H., Krishnan R. R., Pericak-Vance M. A. 2006 SLITRK1 mutations in trichotillomania. Mol. Psychiatry 11, 887–889.
Zuchner S., Wendland J. R., Ashley-Koch A. E., Collins A. L., Tran-Viet K. N., Quinn K. et al. 2009 Multiple rare SAPAP3 missense variants in trichotillomania and OCD. Mol. Psychiatry 14, 6–9.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
[Chatterjee K. 2011 The genetic factors influencing the development of trichotillomania. J. Genet. 90, xxx–xxx]
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
CHATTERJEE, K. The genetic factors influencing the development of trichotillomania. J Genet 91, 259–262 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-011-0094-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-011-0094-6