The association of monoamine oxidase B functional polymorphism with postoperative pain intensity.
OBJECTIVE
The monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) is an enzyme involved in metabolism of dopamine, benzylamine, phenylethylamine, tyramine and tryptamine. The A/G polymorphism in intron 13 of the MAO-B gene has been previously found to be associated with variability of the MAO-B enzyme activity. The aim of the present association study has been to examine the relationship between the A/G polymorphism in intron 13 and postoperative pain intensity.


METHODS
284 subjects (105 males and 179 females) undergoing planned tonsillectomy were examined. The intensity of pain was evaluated using 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS). A PCR method with allele specific primers for detection of A/G polymorphism was used.


RESULTS
We found a relationship between the A/G polymorphism in intron 13 of the MAO-B gene and average intensity of postoperative pain in male subjects. Higher average intensity of postoperative pain was detected in males with the G allele (3.96) in comparison with males with the A allele (3.45) and the difference was statistically significant (p<0,03).


CONCLUSIONS
Results of this study indicate the relationship between the MAO-B polymorphism and postoperative pain intensity in the Czech male population. A potential role of MAO-B in the perception of pain intensity is discussed.
Serý
Omar
O
Laboratory of neurobiology and molecular psychiatry, Department of Biochemistry, Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Brno, Czech Republic. omarsery@sci.muni.cz
Hrazdilová
Olga
O
Didden
William
W
Klenerová
Vera
V
Staif
Radim
R
Znojil
Vladimír
V
Sevcík
Pavel
P
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000235:genetics*; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012016:Reference Values; D012737:Sex Factors; D014068:Tonsillectomy
D008995:Monoamine Oxidase