title: MAO A VNTR polymorphism and variation in human morphology: a VBM study.
abstract: The X-linked monoamine oxidase A (MAO A) gene, coding for an enzyme especially involved in the serotonin catabolism, presents a well-characterized functional polymorphism (long and short variants) in the promoter region that alters the transcriptional activity of the gene and hence the function of the corresponding proteins. Using optimized voxel-based morphometry, we studied the effect of this functional polymorphism on brain morphology in normal individuals. Fifty-nine male healthy individuals (33 MAO A-high and 26 MAO A-low) were investigated. Voxel-based morphometry showed that the carriers of the long variant were significantly associated with loss of grey matter in orbitofrontal cortex, bilaterally. This study reveals pronounced genotype-related structural changes in a specific prefrontal region previously observed to mediate neurofunctional responses in behavioral tasks.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurological Sciences, National Research Council, Piano Lago di Mangone, Cosenza, Italy. a.cerasa@isn.cnr.it
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cerasa
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gioia
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Labate
authors.forename: Pierluigi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lanza
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Magariello
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muglia
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quattrone
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis / Q000379:methods; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D005787:Gene Frequency; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase