title: Monoamine oxidase A regulates antisocial personality in whites with no history of physical abuse.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Preclinical and human family studies clearly link monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) to aggression and antisocial personality (ASP). The 30-base pair variable number tandem repeat in the MAOA promoter regulates MAOA levels, but its effects on ASP in humans are unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated the association of the variable number tandem repeat of the MAOA promoter with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, ASP disorder (ASPD) traits in a community sample of 435 participants from the Hopkins Epidemiology of Personality Disorders Study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We did not find an association between the activity of the MAOA allele and ASPD traits; however, among whites, when subjects with a history of childhood physical abuse were excluded, the remaining subjects with low-activity alleles had ASPD trait counts that were 41% greater than those with high-activity alleles (P < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high-activity MAOA allele is protective against ASP among whites with no history of physical abuse, lending support to a link between MAOA expression and antisocial behavior.
authors.affiliation: The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. imreti@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Irving M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Reti
authors.forename: Jerry Z
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yanofski
authors.forename: Jodi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McKibben
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uhart
authors.forename: Yu-Jen
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zandi
authors.forename: Oscar J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Bienvenu
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Samuels
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Willour
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kasch-Semenza
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bandeen-Roche
authors.forename: William W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Eaton
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nestadt
mesh_terms: D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse; D000483:Alleles; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010556:Personality Tests; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D008995:Monoamine Oxidase