An association study of monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene polymorphism in methamphetamine psychosis.
Methamphetamine continues to be the most widely abused drug in Japan. Chronic methamphetamine users show psychiatric signs, including methamphetamine psychosis. Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) is one of the major enzymes responsible for the degradation of neurotransmitters. Abnormalities in MAO levels have been related to a wide range of psychiatric disorders. We examined whether or not the MAOA-u variable-number tandem repeat (VNTR) has a functional polymorphism in methamphetamine psychosis and whether or not such a polymorphism is related to the prolongation of psychosis. As expected, there was a significant difference in the MAOA-u VNTR between males with persistent versus transient methamphetamine psychosis (p=0.018, odds ratio (OR)=2.76, 95% CI: 1.18-6.46). Our results suggest that the high-activity allele class of MAOA-u VNTR in males may be involved in susceptibility to a persistent course of methamphetamine psychosis. We found no differences among females. The sample size of females with methamphetamine psychosis was too small to have significant analysis.
Nakamura
Kazuhiko
K
Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-3192, Japan. nakamura@hama-med.ac.jp
Sekine
Yoshimoto
Y
Takei
Noriyoshi
N
Iwata
Yasuhide
Y
Suzuki
Katsuaki
K
Anitha
Ayyappan
A
Inada
Toshiya
T
Harano
Mutsuo
M
Komiyama
Tokutaro
T
Yamada
Mitsuhiko
M
Iwata
Nakao
N
Iyo
Masaomi
M
Sora
Ichiro
I
Ozaki
Norio
N
Ujike
Hiroshi
H
Mori
Norio
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011605:Psychoses, Substance-Induced / Q000235:genetics*; D012737:Sex Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications; D055815:Young Adult
D015259:Dopamine Agents; D008694:Methamphetamine; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase