Studies of the Effects of Genes for Inflammatory Factors on Basic Personality Dimensions

Objective. To study the relationship between the basic personality dimensions and genes encoding various inflammation mediators and biomarkers whose contents are elevated in schizophrenia patients and affective disorders. The study addressed the genes for interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP), and α-1-antitrypsin (A1AT). Materials and methods. A total of 639 healthy humans aged 17–69 years took part in the study. The following polymorphic gene loci were genotyped: IL-1β C-511T and C3954T, IL-6 G-174C, TNF-α G-308A, CRP G/A, and A1AT(374G/A). The basic personality dimensions were extraversion and neuroticism and were evaluated using the Eysenck personality questionnaire. Results and discussion. Levels of extraversion and neuroticism were not linked with polymorphisms in the IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α G, or CRP genes. An association was found between the A1AT 374G/A polymorphism with extraversion (p = 0.036). A1AT 374G/A affected the degree of neuroticism in women, but differences were of marginal significance (p = 0.05). This is the first study of the relationship between personality dimensions and the IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and A1AT genes, so the results should be regarded as preliminary. Further studies in this direction are required.