title: Negative emotionality: monoamine oxidase B gene variants modulate personality traits in healthy humans.
abstract: Monoamine oxidase A and B (MAOA and MAOB) appear to be involved in the pathogenesis of Major Depression, and vulnerability of Major Depression is associated with personality traits relating to positive and negative affect. This study aimed to investigate associations between MAOA and MAOB polymorphisms and personality traits of positive and negative emotionality in healthy volunteers, to elucidate mechanisms underlying personality and the risk for depression. Healthy Caucasian volunteers (N = 150) completed the Multiphasic Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), which includes independent superfactors of Positive Emotionality and Negative Emotionality. Participants were genotyped for 8 MAOA and 12 MAOB single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Association analyses for both SNPs and haplotypes were performed using the permutation approach implemented in PLINK. Negative Emotionality was significantly associated with the two highly linked MAOB polymorphisms rs10521432 and rs6651806 (p < 0.002). Findings were extended in haplotype analyses. For MAOB the 4-SNP haplotype GACG formed from rs1799836, rs10521432, rs6651806 and rs590551 was significantly related to lower Negative Emotionality scores (p < 0.002). MAOA was not related to personality in this study. Our finding provides the first evidence that MAOB polymorphisms influence levels of negative emotionality in healthy human volunteers. If confirmed, these results could lead to a better understanding of personality traits and inter-individual susceptibility developing psychiatric disorders such as major depression.
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave, Chicago, IL, USA. andrea.dlugos@ukmuenster.de
authors: Andrea M
authors: AM
authors: Dlugos
authors: Abraham A
authors: AA
authors: Palmer
authors: Harriet
authors: H
authors: de Wit
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008297:Male; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics*; D010551:Personality / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008995:Monoamine Oxidase