Abstract
Androgens mediate their functions through androgen receptors (AR). The two triplet repeats in the AR gene (CAG and GGN) are highly polymorphic among various populations and have been extensively studied in diverse clinical conditions and antisocial personality disorders. Several studies have reported either higher levels of testosterone among rapists or the correlation of shorter CAG repeats with criminal activities. However, to date, no study has analyzed AR gene in rapists worldwide, and no study has been conducted on criminals from Indian subcontinent. Therefore, we have analyzed the AR-CAG repeat length in 645 men, of which 241 were convicted for rape, 107 for murder, 26 for both murder and rape, and 271 were control males. The aim was to explore if there was any correlation between CAG repeat length and criminal behavior. The study revealed significantly shorter CAG repeats in the rapists (mean 18.44 repeats) and murderers (mean 17.59 repeats) compared to the control men (mean 21.19 repeats). The criminals who committed murder after rape had a far shorter mean repeat length (mean 17.31 repeats) in comparison to the controls or those convicted of rape or murder alone. In short, our study suggests that the reduced CAG repeats in the AR gene are associated with criminal behavior. This, along with other studies, would help in understanding the biological factors associated with the antisocial or criminal activities.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Scott S, Knapp M, Henderson J, Maughan B (2001) Financial cost of social exclusion: follow up study of antisocial children into adulthood. BMJ 323:191
Rhee SH, Waldman ID (2002) Genetic and environmental influences on antisocial behavior: a meta-analysis of twin and adoption studies. Psychol Bull 128:490–529
Lee HJ, Chang C (2003) Recent advances in androgen receptor action. Cell Mol Life Sci 60:1613–1622
Ehrenkranz J, Bliss E, Sheard MH (1974) Plasma testosterone: correlation with aggressive behavior and social dominance in man. Psychosom Med 36:469–475
Dabbs JM, Dabbs MG (eds) (2000) Heroes, rogues, and lovers: testosterone and behavior. McGraw-Hill, Columbus
Dolan M, Anderson IM, Deakin JF (2001) Relationship between 5-HT function and impulsivity and aggression in male offenders with personality disorders. Br J Psychiatry 178:352–359
Aluja A, Torrubia R (2004) Hostility-aggressiveness, sensation seeking, and sex hormones in men: re-exploring their relationship. Neuropsychobiology 50:102–107
Trenton AJ, Currier GW (2005) Behavioural manifestations of anabolic steroid use. CNS Drugs 19:571–595
Brady KT, Randall CL (1999) Gender differences in substance use disorders. Psychiatr. Clin N Am 22:241–252
Rada RT, Laws DR, Kellner R (1976) Plasma testosterone levels in the rapist. Psychosom Med 38:257–268
Aromaki AS, Lindman RE, Eriksson CJ (2002) Testosterone, sexuality and antisocial personality in rapists and child molesters: a pilot study. Psychiatry Res 110:239–247
Mulder RT, Wells JE, Joyce PR, Bushnell JA (1994) Antisocial women. J Personal Disord 8:279–287
Lubahn DB, Joseph DR, Sullivan PM, Willard HF, French FS, Wilson EM (1988) Cloning of human androgen receptor complementary DNA and localization to the X chromosome. Science 240:327–330
Faber PW, Kuiper GG, van Rooij HC, van der Korput JA, Brinkmann AO, Trapman J (1989) The N-terminal domain of the human androgen receptor is encoded by one, large exon. Mol Cell Endocrinol 61:257–262
Chamberlain NL, Driver ED, Miesfeld RL (1994) The length and location of CAG trinucleotide repeats in the androgen receptor N-terminal domain affect transactivation function. Nucleic Acids Res 22:3181–3186
Kazemi-Esfarjani P, Trifiro MA, Pinsky L (1995) Evidence for a repressive function of the long polyglutamine tract in the human androgen receptor: possible pathogenetic relevance for the (CAG)n-expanded neuronopathies. Hum Mol Genet 4:523–527
McGinnis MY, Dreifuss RM (1989) Evidence for a role of testosterone-androgen receptor interactions in mediating masculine sexual behavior in male rats. Endocrinology 124:618–626
Jonsson EG, von Gertten C, Gustavsson JP, Yuan QP, Lindblad-Toh K, Forslund K et al (2001) Androgen receptor trinucleotide repeat polymorphism and personality traits. Psychiatr Genet 11:19–23
Thangaraj K, Joshi MB, Reddy AG, Gupta NJ, Chakravarty B, Singh L (2002) CAG repeat expansion in the androgen receptor gene is not associated with male infertility in Indian populations. J Androl 23:815–818
Thangaraj K, Joshi MB, Reddy AG, Rasalkar AA, Singh L (2003) Sperm mitochondrial mutations as a cause of low sperm motility. J Androl 24:388–392
Higuchi R, von Beroldingen CH, Sensabaugh GF, Erlich HA (1988) DNA typing from single hairs. Nature 332:543–546
Giotakos O, Markianos M, Vaidakis N, Christodoulou GN (2003) Aggression, impulsivity, plasma sex hormones, and biogenic amine turnover in a forensic population of rapists. J Sex Marital Ther 29:215–225
Cheng D, Hong CJ, Liao DL, Tsai SJ (2006) Association study of androgen receptor CAG repeat polymorphism and male violent criminal activity. Psychoneuroendocrinology 31P:548–552
Turakulov R, Jorm AF, Jacomb PA, Tan X, Easteal S (2004) Association of dopamine-b hydroxylase and androgen receptor gene polymorphisms with Eysenck_s P and other personality traits. Pers Individ Dif 37:191–202
Acknowledgement
Financial support of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and Indian Council of Medical Research, Government of India, New Delhi is gratefully acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rajender, S., Pandu, G., Sharma, J.D. et al. Reduced CAG repeats length in androgen receptor gene is associated with violent criminal behavior. Int J Legal Med 122, 367–372 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-008-0225-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-008-0225-7