title: The functional MAOA-uVNTR promoter polymorphism in patients with frontotemporal dementia.
abstract: The genetic underpinnings of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a rare yet early onset disorder still remains elusive. As FTD is characterized by a serotonergic deficit in the frontal lobe, and as some symptoms of FTD resemble conditions of monoamino oxidase A (MAO-A) deficiency, MAO-A is an attractive candidate gene for case-control association studies of FTD. We have thus ascertained 62 Italian FTD patients and 151 controls matched to age and genotyped them for a functional promoter polymorphism, termed MAOA-uVNTR. However, no significant differences were observed between patients and controls. Bearing in mind the caveat of the small patient sample size, our data nevertheless argue against a major genetic role of MAO-A polymorphism in FTD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Section of Clinical and Molecular Psychobiology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. a.reif@gmx.net
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reif
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scarpini
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Venturelli
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Töpner
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fenoglio
authors.forename: K-P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Lesch
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Galimberti
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003704:Dementia / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D008995:Monoamine Oxidase