Association study of the polymorphism of MAOA gene with panic disorder

Abstract

Objective To explore the association between monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism and panic disorder, and then to compare panic disorder(PD) severity patient with different MAOA VNTR genotypes. Methods The structured clinical interview for the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders fourth edition (DSM-IV) Axis I Disorders (SCID-1) was administered by a trained clinical psychiatrist, 135 patients with PD and 195 healthy controls were recruited.MAOA-VNTR polymorphism were measured by fluorescent tags amplification product length polymorphism technology, Chi-square test was used to compare the distribution difference between each genotype and the allele frequency distribution. Results ①Whether male or female, there was no statistically significant difference between case group and healthy control group in the genotype and allele frequencies of MAOA-VNTR polymorphism (χ2=1.574, 1.894, 3.588; all P 0.05). ③However, there was significant difference between genotypes and panic disorder severity in the female with panic disorder((13.15±3.47), (16.57±4.34), (15.27±4.91); F=4.222, P<0.05). MAOA VNTR-L/L carriers experienced more serious panic (16.57±4.34) than the patient with MAOA VNTR-H/H (13.15±3.47)(P<0.01) by LSD multiple test. Conclusion No association between MAOA-VNTR polymorphism and panic disorder is found in Chinese Han population, but low activity homozygous genotype may be related to the severity of panic disorder in female patient with panic disorder. Key words: Panic disorder; Monoamine oxidase A gene; Polymorphism