Sexual desire may increase or decrease according to certain nongenetic factors such as the presence or lack of an intimate relationship, or good health or illness. Previous research has suggested that individual differences in sexual desire may also be heritable, but few studies have investigated the genetic factors. Now research reports that differences in the DRD4 gene may affect a person's sex drive. The DRD4 gene produces a receptor protein for dopamine, a brain messenger.
The study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, investigated whether the DRD4 gene was linked to human sexual behavior that included desire, arousal and function. Researchers at Ben Gurion University of the Negev at Beer Sheva, Israel, analyzed the data of 148 university students. Online surveys about sexual attitudes and behavior and genome screenings were obtained from the participants. The scientists compared the survey results to the participants' DRD4 gene variations.
The researchers found that lower sexual desire was linked to a specific DRD4 gene variation, while higher sexual desire was associated with another DRD4 gene variation. However, the findings don't indicate if other genetic or nongenetic factors may have also influenced sexual desire.
"The current results are consistent with animal studies that show a role for dopamine and specifically the DRD4 receptor in sexual behavior and suggest that one pathway by which individual variation in human desire, arousal and function are mediated is based on allelic variants coding for differences in DRD4 receptor gene expression and protein concentrations in key brain areas," the study authors write.
The researchers suggest that the findings will require further study in larger clinical trials.
REFERENCES:
1. Ben Zion IZ et al. Polymorphisms in the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4) contribute to individual differences in human sexual behavior: desire, arousal and sexual function. Mol Psychiatry 2006 Aug;11(8):782-6. Epub 2006 Apr 18.
Posted by Elaine Gavalas on October 28, 2006 01:36 PM
