title: MAO A VNTR polymorphism and amygdala volume in healthy subjects.
abstract: The X-linked Monoamine Oxidase A (MAO A) gene presents a well known functional polymorphism consisting of a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) (long and short variants) previously associated with altered neural function of the amygdala. Using automatic subcortical segmentation (Freesurfer), we investigated whether amygdala volume could be influenced by this genotype. We studied 109 healthy subjects (age range 18-80 years; 59 male and 50 female), 74 carrying the MAO A High-activity allele and 35 the MAO A Low-activity allele. No significant effect of the MAO A polymorphism or interaction effect between polymorphism × gender was found on amygdalar volume. Thus, our findings suggest that the reported impact of the MAO A polymorphism on amygdala function is not coupled with consistent volumetric changes in healthy subjects. Future studies are needed to investigate whether the association between volume of the amygdala and the MAO A VNTR polymorphism is influenced by social/psychological variables, such as impulsivity, trauma history and cigarette smoking behaviour, not taken into account in this work.
authors.affiliation: Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Neurological Sciences, National Research Council, Catanzaro, Italy. a.cerasa@isn.cnr.it
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cerasa
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quattrone
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gioia
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Magariello
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muglia
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Assogna
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bernardini
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caltagirone
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bossù
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spalletta
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000679:Amygdala / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D012737:Sex Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008995:Monoamine Oxidase