title: Association of a regulatory polymorphism in the promoter region of the monoamine oxidase A gene with antisocial alcoholism.
abstract: We analyzed a novel functional 30-bp repeat polymorphism in the promoter region of the X-chromosomal monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) to test whether length variation of the repeat polymorphism contributes to variation in the individual vulnerability to antisocial behavior and liability to alcohol dependence. The repeat number (3-5) of the MAOA polymorphism was assessed in 488 male subjects of German descent, a sample comprising 185 psychiatrically screened control subjects and 303 alcohol-dependent subjects including 59 alcoholics with antisocial personality disorder. The frequency of the low-activity 3-repeat allele was significantly increased in 59 antisocial alcoholics compared to 185 control subjects (51 vs. 35%; P = 0.031) and to 244 alcoholics without antisocial personality disorder (51 vs. 32%; P = 0.008), respectively. We found no significant difference in the frequency of the 3-repeat allele between 244 alcoholics without an antisocial personality disorder and the control subjects. Our findings suggest that the low-activity 3-repeat allele of the MAOA promoter polymorphism confers increased susceptibility to antisocial behavior rather than alcohol dependence per se in alcohol-dependent males.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Pomeranian Medical Academy, Szczecin, Poland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Samochowiec
authors.forename: K P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Lesch
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rottmann
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smolka
authors.forename: Y V
authors.initials: YV
authors.lastname: Syagailo
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Okladnova
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rommelspacher
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Winterer
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sander
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics*; D000483:Alleles; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D014960:X Chromosome / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D008995:Monoamine Oxidase