US researchers report that genes may play a vital role in a compulsive hair-pulling disorder called trichotillomania. Around 3 to 5 percent of the population is affected by this disorder, which is classified as an impulsive one.
The hair-pulling disorder is often secondary to mental conditions like anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder or Tourette syndrome. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center conducted the present study, which involved around 44 families with at least one member affected by trichotillomania.
Family members with the disorder were found to have two mutations in the SLITRK1 gene, which were not present in normal members. Scientists said the SLITRK1 gene plays a vital role in developing connections between brain cells called neurons. They added that mutations in the gene could lead to the development of faulty connections, which trigger trichotillomania.
"Society still holds negative perceptions about psychiatric conditions such as trichotillomania. But, if we can show they have a genetic origin, we can improve diagnosis, develop new therapies, and reduce the stereotypes associated with mental illness," said lead researcher Stephan Züchner, M.D., of the Duke Center for Human Genetics.
He however cautioned that such mutations were likely to account for only a small percentage of trichotillomania cases. The findings of the study are due to be published in the October issue of Molecular Psychiatry.
