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.
Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-3192, Japan. nakamura@hama-med.ac.jp
Kazuhiko
K
Nakamura
Yoshimoto
Y
Sekine
Noriyoshi
N
Takei
Yasuhide
Y
Iwata
Katsuaki
K
Suzuki
Ayyappan
A
Anitha
Toshiya
T
Inada
Mutsuo
M
Harano
Tokutaro
T
Komiyama
Mitsuhiko
M
Yamada
Nakao
N
Iwata
Masaomi
M
Iyo
Ichiro
I
Sora
Norio
N
Ozaki
Hiroshi
H
Ujike
Norio
N
Mori
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