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Dive into the research topics where Martina Tomori is active.

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Featured researches published by Martina Tomori.


European Journal of Human Genetics | 2005

Association of BDNF with restricting anorexia nervosa and minimum body mass index: a family-based association study of eight European populations

Marta Ribasés; Mònica Gratacòs; Fernando Fernández-Aranda; Laura Bellodi; Claudette Boni; Marija Anderluh; Maria Cristina Cavallini; Elena Cellini; Daniela Di Bella; Stephano Erzegovesi; Christine Foulon; Mojca Gabrovsek; Philip Gorwood; Johannes Hebebrand; Anke Hinney; Jo Holliday; Xun Hu; Andreas Karwautz; Amélie Kipman; Radovan Komel; Benedetta Nacmias; Helmut Remschmidt; Valdo Ricca; Sandro Sorbi; Martina Tomori; Gudrun Wagner; Janet Treasure; David A. Collier; Xavier Estivill

Eating disorders (ED), such as anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), are complex psychiatric disorders where different genetic and environmental factors are involved. Several lines of evidence support that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an essential role in eating behaviour and that alterations on this neurotrophic system participates in the susceptibility to both AN and BN. Accordingly, intraventricular administration of BDNF in rats determines food starvation and body weight loss, while BDNF or its specific receptor NTRK2 knockout mice develop obesity and hyperphagia. Case–control studies also suggest a BDNF contribution in the aetiology of ED: we have previously reported a strong association between the Met66 variant within the BDNF gene, restricting AN (ANR) and minimum body mass index (minBMI) in a Spanish sample, and a positive association between the Val66Met and −270C/T BDNF SNPs and ED in six different European populations. To replicate these results, avoiding population stratification effects, we recruited 453 ED trios from eight European centres and performed a family-based association study. Both haplotype relative risk (HRR) and haplotype-based haplotype relative risk (HHRR) methods showed a positive association between the Met66 allele and ANR. Consistently, we also observed an effect of the Met66 variant on low minBMI and a preferential transmission of the −270C/Met66 haplotype to the affected ANR offspring. These results support the involvement of BDNF in eating behaviour and further suggest its participation in the genetic susceptibility to ED, mainly ANR and low minBMI.


Journal of Adolescent Health | 2000

Eating behavior, depression, and self-esteem in high school students

Martina Tomori; Maja Rus-Makovec

OBJECTIVE In a representative sample of 4700 Slovene high school students, we examined their eating behavior and its correlations with some psychosocial and psychological characteristics with the aim of identifying the main risk factors for disordered eating. METHOD Using a questionnaire which also included Zungs Self-rating Depression Scale and Rosenbergs Self-Esteem Scale, we compared girls (n = 2507) and boys (n = 2193) with regard to their satisfaction with their body weight, weight-reducing activities, and frequency of binge eating. We assessed their family relationships, abuse of alcohol and other psychoactive drugs, suicidal ideation, and suicidal tendences, as well as their level of depression and self-esteem. RESULTS The results showed significant differences between girls and boys, between groups of those who were satisfied and those who were dissatisfied with their body weight, and also between groups which indulged in frequent binge eating and those which did not. CONCLUSION Within a general population of adolescents, there is a substantial number of subjects with disordered eating behavior, some part of whom are at high risk for eating disorders.


Journal of Affective Disorders | 2011

The association between brain-derived neurotrophic factor polymorphism (BDNF Val66Met) and suicide

Peter Pregelj; Gordana Nedić; Alja Videtič Paska; Tomaž Zupanc; Matea Nikolac; Jože Balažic; Martina Tomori; Radovan Komel; Dorotea Muck Seler; Nela Pivac

BACKGROUND Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mediates neural plasticity, mood, different behaviours, and stress response. A functional BDNF polymorphism (BDNF Val66Met) was reported to influence the effects of stressful life events or childhood adversity on depression and suicidal behaviour in various psychopathologies. The study evaluated the association between BDNF Val66Met variants and suicide, committed with violent or non-violent methods, in victims with or without stressful childhood experience. METHODS BDNF Val66Met polymorphism was genotyped on 560DNA samples from 359 suicide victims and 201 control subjects collected on autopsy from unrelated Caucasian subjects and subdivided according to gender, method of suicide, and influence of childhood adversity. RESULTS A similar frequency of BDNF Val66Met variants was found between all included suicide victims and the control groups, and also between the male groups. The frequency of the combined Met/Met and Met/Val genotypes and the homozygous Val/Val genotype was significantly different between the female suicide victims and female controls, between the female suicide victims who used violent suicide methods and female controls, and between all included suicide victims with or without stressful life events. The combined Met/Met and Met/Val genotypes contributed to this significance. LIMITATION A small group of suicide victims with available data on childhood adversity was studied. CONCLUSIONS The combined Met/Met and Met/Val genotypes of the BDNF Val66Met variant could be the risk factor for violent suicide in female subjects and for suicide in victims exposed to childhood trauma. These results confirm a major role of BDNF in increased vulnerability to suicide.


American Journal of Medical Genetics | 2004

Combined family trio and case-control analysis of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism in European patients with anorexia nervosa.

Mojca Gabrovsek; M. Brecelj-Anderluh; Laura Bellodi; Elena Cellini; D. Di Bella; Xavier Estivill; Fernando Fernández-Aranda; Bernard Freeman; Frank Geller; Mònica Gratacòs; Rachel Haigh; Johannes Hebebrand; Anke Hinney; Joanna Holliday; Xun Hu; Andreas Karwautz; Benedetta Nacmias; Marta Ribasés; Helmut Remschmidt; Radovan Komel; Sandro Sorbi; Martina Tomori; Janet Treasure; Gudrun Wagner; Jinghua Zhao; David Collier

The high activity Val158 (H) allele of the dopamine‐metabolizing enzyme catechol‐O‐methyltransferase (COMT) was associated with anorexia nervosa (AN) in a recent family trio‐based study of patients from Israel. In an attempt to replicate this finding, we performed a combined family trio and case‐control study in an European population from seven centers in six different countries (Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Italy [Milan], Italy [Florence], Slovenia, and Spain), together contributing a total of 372 family trios, 684 controls and 266 cases. TDT analyses of high (H) and low (L) alleles in family trios showed that H allele and L allele were each transmitted 101 times (χ2 = 0, ns). Allele‐wise case‐control analysis using separate samples simply combined from the centers was also not significant, with the frequencies of the H allele 50% in cases and same in controls. Stratified analysis of data from all centers gave an odds ratio of 0.98 (Cornfield 95% confidence limits 0.78–1.24). Analysis by genotype was likewise not significant (overall χ2 = 0.42). Because we were not able to support the primary hypothesis that Val158Met is a risk factor for AN, we did not perform secondary analysis of minimum body mass index (mBMI), age at onset or illness subtype (restricting or binge purging anorexia). Overall we found no support for the hypothesis that the Val158 allele of COMT gene is associated with AN in our combined European sample.


European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry | 2001

Smoking in relation to psychosocial risk factors in adolescents

Martina Tomori; Bojan Zalar; B. Kores Plesnicar; Slavko Ziherl; E. Stergar

Abstract Objective. The study investigated which psychosocial factors distinguish adolescent smokers from non-smokers, and examined the most important factors correlated with smoking. Method. A cross-sectional survey carried out by means of a questionnaire which, in addition to items on family, school, healthy habits, drug abuse and suicidal behaviour, also included a scale of depression (Zungs SDS) and of self-esteem (Rosenbergs SES). Sample. Two thousand one hundred and eleven high school students aged from 17.0 to 18.11 (1083 girls and 1028 boys), of whom 221 girls and 239 boys were smokers. Results. The smokers of both sexes differed significantly from the non-smokers in frequency of substance abuse, family dysfunction, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, attitude towards the harmful effects of smoking, truancy from school, and lesser involvement in sports. With regard to smoking behaviour, the most important predictive factors for adolescents of both sexes proved to be substance abuse, truancy, suicide attempts, a lower estimate of the harmfulness of smoking, and infrequent engagement in sports. Among the girls, predictive factors were also sexual and physical abuse, and binge eating. Conclusions. Smoking behaviour in adolescence may be part of a pattern of problematic behaviour and may be linked to various psychopathological disturbances.


Neuroscience Letters | 2011

TPH2 polymorphisms and alcohol-related suicide

Tomaž Zupanc; Peter Pregelj; Martina Tomori; Radovan Komel; Alja Videtič Paska

Substantial evidence from family, twin, and adoption studies corroborates implication of genetic and environmental factors, as well as their interactions, on suicidal behavior and alcoholism risk. Serotonergic disfunction seems to be involved in the pathophysiology of substance abuse, and has also an important role in suicidal behavior. Recent studies of the tryptophan hydroxylase 2 showed mild or no association with suicide and alcohol-related suicide. We performed SNP and alcohol analysis on 388 suicide victims and 227 controls. The results showed association between suicide (Pχ²=0.043) and alcohol-related suicide (Pχ²=0.021) for SNP Rs1843809. A tendency for association was determined also for polymorphism Rs1386493 (Pχ²=0.055) and alcohol-related suicide. Data acquired from psychological autopsies in a subsample of suicide victims (n=79) determined more impulsive behavior (Pχ²=0.016) and verbal aggressive behavior (Pχ²=0.025) in the subgroup with alcohol misuse or dependency. In conclusion, our results suggest implication of polymorphisms in suicide and alcohol-related suicide, but further studies are needed to clarify the interplay among serotonergic system disfunction, suicide, alcohol dependence, impulsivity and the role of TPH2 enzyme.


Pediatric Diabetes | 2009

Lifetime prevalence of suicidal and self-injurious behaviors in a representative cohort of Slovenian adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Maja Drobnic Radobuljac; Natasa Bratina; Tadej Battelino; Martina Tomori

Objective: To determine lifetime prevalence of suicidal and self‐injurious behaviors in Slovenian adolescents with type 1 diabetes compared with healthy controls.


American Journal of Medical Genetics | 2006

Association study of seven polymorphisms in four serotonin receptor genes on suicide victims

Alja Videtič; Galina Pungercic; Irena Zupanič Pajnič; Tomaz Zupanc; Joze Balazic; Martina Tomori; Radovan Komel

A number of molecular genetic studies have investigated if serotonin (5‐HT) receptor subtypes are involved in the pathogenesis of depression, suicidal behavior, aggression, and impulsive behavior. Existence of many receptor subtypes for a single transmitter permits a great diversity of signaling raising the possibility that they may serve as genetic markers for suicidal behavior. Most previous studies of suicide have analyzed polymorphisms of the receptors 5‐HT1A, 5‐HT1B, 5‐HT2A, fewer have examined 5‐HT1F. We report a study of possible association between the polymorphisms in the 5‐HT receptor genes (1A, 1B, 1F, and 2A) and suicidal behavior on a sample of 226 suicide victims and 225 healthy control subjects. No significant differences in genotype frequency distributions between the suicide victims and healthy control subjects were observed for four polymorphisms; three were not polymorphic. A single polymorphism, C‐1420T in gene 5‐HT2A, showed a slight association with suicide (χ2 = 4.94, df = 2, P = 0.067), but the correlation was not statistically significant. None of the tested genetic variants of serotonin receptors appears to be associated with suicidal behavior in the Slovenian population which has a relatively high suicide rate.


International Journal of Social Psychiatry | 2002

Mental Health Services in Slovenia

Vesna Švab; Martina Tomori

Background: Development of mental health services in Slovenia has some originalities described in the present article. Slovenia is a small Central European country with a population of 2 million. Its mental health system has been influenced by the western de-institutionalization movement and eastern models of care which are predominately institutional. Aims: Mental health reform in the 1970s was a silent one with displacement of long-term psychiatric patients to old-peoples homes, asylums and to their families. During the last decade community mental health services have been established in the non-government sector, primarily as social institutions providing support to patients with severe mental illness. Psychosocial rehabilitation movement changed some therapeutic approaches in hospitals and has been gaining more and more influence in the NGO services. Results: The article describes Slovene psychiatric hospitals and community rehabilitation services. Mental health services in Slovenia are compared to services in Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Conclusions: The authors are proposing guidelines for future development of mental health services for the severely mentally ill in our country in order to improve the present deficient state of care.


European Addiction Research | 2007

Trait Aggression and Hostility in Recovered Alcoholics

Slavko Ziherl; Zdenka Čebašek Travnik; Blanka Kores Plesničar; Martina Tomori; Bojan Zalar

There is a long-recognized association between alcohol consumption and aggressive behavior. This study was designed to examine aggression in a group of socially well-adapted recovered alcoholics (RA). The question addressed was whether the treatment, together with long-term abstinence from alcohol, could reduce aggression and hostility in RA. A group of male RA (n = 64), who did not meet the DSM-IV criteria for any psychiatric or personality disorder, were recruited to the study from aftercare groups. According to data from their group therapists, they were reliably abstinent for at least 3 years and socially well adapted. The study participants representing the control group (n = 69), diagnosed as being ‘reliable nonalcoholics’ (NA) by the Munich Alcoholism Test, were recruited from general practice. Data were derived from an in-house questionnaire on general characteristics of both groups, and aggressive and hostility traits were assessed using the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI). The univariate and multivariate between-groups design was used for data analysis. Taking into account the BDHI dimensions of aggression and hostility, the difference between RA and NA groups was statistically significant [Wilks’ lambda (8, 125) = 0.769; p = 0.00004]. There were statistically significant differences in the BDHI scales for indirect aggression, irritability, negativism, suspicion, resentment, and guilt. Both RA and Na groups did not differ significantly in variables that assessed physical and verbal aggression. After a 3-year abstinence, subjects from the RA group displayed signs of hostility and covert aggression.

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Bojan Zalar

University of Ljubljana

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Joze Balazic

University of Ljubljana

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Tomaz Zupanc

University of Ljubljana

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Natasa Bratina

Boston Children's Hospital

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