Association between a functional polymorphism in the monoamine oxidase A gene promoter and major depressive disorder.
Various polymorphisms of the X-chromosomal monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) gene were investigated for association with affective disorders. However, none of the studied variants could consistently be associated with either major depressive or bipolar affective disorder. Recently, a positive association between panic disorder and a novel functional repeat polymorphism in the MAO-A gene promoter, with the longer alleles being more active, was reported. Since monoaminergic neurotransmission is supposed to play an important role in affective disorders, we investigated a potential association of this polymorphism with major depressive illness in a sample of 146 unrelated patients of German descent and a control group of 101 individuals with a negative life history for affective disorders. Similarly to the recent findings in panic disorder, we observed a significantly increased frequency of genotypes containing only long alleles in female patients with recurrent major depression in comparison with age- and sex-matched controls. Thus, our data suggest that an excess of high-activity MAO-A gene promoter alleles resulting in an elevated MAO-A activity is a risk factor for major depressive disorder in females. Am. J. Med. Genet. (Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 96:801-803, 2000.
Schulze
T G
TG
Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany. tschulze@uni-bonn.de
Müller
D J
DJ
Krauss
H
H
Scherk
H
H
Ohlraun
S
S
Syagailo
Y V
YV
Windemuth
C
C
Neidt
H
H
Grässle
M
M
Papassotiropoulos
A
A
Heun
R
R
Nöthen
M M
MM
Maier
W
W
Lesch
K P
KP
Rietschel
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
D008995:Monoamine Oxidase