The catechol-O-methyl transferase Val158Met polymorphism and susceptibility to cannabis dependence.

Cannabis stimulates dopamine release and activates dopaminergic reward neurons in central pathways that lead to enhanced dependence. Catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) inactivates amplified extraneuronally released dopamine. A functional polymorphism (COMT Val158Met) resulting in increased enzyme activity has been associated with polysubstance abuse and addiction to heroin and methamphetamine. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the COMT Val158Met polymorphism and use of cannabis. Fifty-five cannabis users and 75 normal controls were enrolled in this study. Polymerase chain reaction-based genotyping was used to evaluate the presence of COMT gene polymorphism. There was a difference in genotype frequencies between cannabis users and controls, including the distribution of the COMT genotypes (H/H, H/L) (P < 0.001) and alleles (H, L) (P < 0.01), when comparing the patient groups and the control individuals. However, LL genotype distribution was similar between the groups. These results suggest a significant association between COMT Val158Met polymorphism and susceptibility to cannabis dependence.

Role of family factors in adolescent delinquency in an Elazig/Turkey reformatory.

Family is one of the most important factors in the social and psychological progress of an adolescent. Social behavior disorders in childhood have been reported to be caused by many factors that may lead children to commit a crime. Our study included a total of 106 convicted adolescents from Eastern Turkey in a reformatory and 126 unconvicted adolescents with a similar socio-economic status. A survey form was completed during a face-to-face interview and a review of official records was undertaken. The role of family disruption, education levels of parents, the rate of imprisonment among first- and second-degree relatives, migration as a family from their place of birth, and the number of delinquent children in the family were evaluated. There was a significant difference between the conditions in the families of convicted and unconvicted adolescents. Family factors play an important role in the development of adolescent delinquency. To prevent or decrease this rate of childhood or adolescent delinquency, there needs to be an improvement in the socio-cultural conditions of families.

An Information Theoretical Study of the Epistasis Between the CNR1 1359 G/A Polymorphism and the Taq1A and Taq1B DRD2 Polymorphisms: Assessing the Susceptibility to Cannabis Addiction in a Turkish Population.

Addiction is a complex, multi-factorial disease, and thus, analyzing genetic variants at multiple loci and gene-gene interactions among them (epistasis) can provide crucial clues about causative factors of addiction which cannot be detected with single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) association studies. In this study, we discuss the interaction between the 1359 G/A polymorphism of the CNR1 gene and the DRD2 gene polymorphisms and the net effect of any possible epistasis on the cannabis addiction phenotype in a Turkish population. Using bivariate synergy and mutual information concepts as a means of capturing the magnitude of interaction between marker pairs, the present study not only confirms the A1 marker allele as a risk factor but also reveals a finer-grained association between A and B markers which manifests itself both as a preventive and a risk factor. Our results indicate that the increased phenotype of cases require an individual to be either heterozygous at both loci or homozygous at locus B with homozygous risk factor A1A1 present. We hypothesize that overlapping expressions of CB1 and D2R is the cause of CB1-D2R interactions in cases of substance abuse and the different polymorphisms of CNR1 and DRD2 genes may have decisive roles in the nature of these interactions in terms of promoting or alleviating the cannabis addiction risk factor of the individual.

Study: the lack of significant association of the catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) gene polymorphism in violent offenders with mental retardation.

Little is known about criminality of cognitively impaired people and also there have been no reports on the relationship between catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) and committed Mental Retardation (MR) subjects. In the present study, the association between committed (violent offences) MR subjects and genetic variants of COMT were investigated by using polymerase chain reaction and based restriction fragment length polymorphism methods. During 6 years of follow-up, 36 violent offenders with mild MR were investigated. Thirty-six control volunteers were included in the study as a control group. H/L polymorphism of the COMT gene was investigated in these two groups. In conclusion, the COMT gene genotype distribution and allele frequency is not significantly different between the two groups (p > 0.05). This result suggests that the H/L polymorphism of the COMT gene does not show an association with the potential of "commits-violent offense" of Turkish subjects with mental retardation, compared with control group.

Establishment of interdisciplinary child protection teams in Turkey 2002-2006: identifying the strongest link can make a difference!

OBJECTIVES: The University of Iowa Child Protection Program collaborated with Turkish professionals to develop a training program on child abuse and neglect during 2002-2006 with the goals of increasing professional awareness and number of multidisciplinary teams (MDT), regional collaborations, and assessed cases. This paper summarizes the 5-year outcome. METHODS: A team of instructors evaluated needs and held training activities in Turkey annually, and provided consultation when needed. Descriptive analysis was done via Excel and SPSS software. RESULTS: Eighteen training activities were held with 3,570 attendees. Over the study period, the number of MDTs increased from 4 to 14. The MDTs got involved in organizing training activities in their institutions and communities. The number of medical curriculum lectures taught by MDTs to medical students/residents, conferences organized by the MDTs, and lectures to non-medical professional audiences increased significantly (R(2)=91.4%, 83.8%, and 69.2%, respectively). The number of abuse cases assessed by the MDTs increased by five times compared to pre-training period. CONCLUSIONS: A culturally competent training program had a positive impact on professional attitudes and behaviors toward recognition and management of child abuse and neglect in Turkey. The need to partner with policy makers to revise current law in favor of a greater human services orientation became clear. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Pioneers in developing countries may benefit from collaborating with culturally competent instructors from countries with more developed child protection systems to develop training programs so that professional development can improve recognition and management of child abuse and neglect.