Comprehensive Psychiatry
Volume 52, Issue 2 , Pages 188-194, March 2011

Monoamine oxidase A regulates antisocial personality in whites with no history of physical abuse

  • Irving M. Reti

      Affiliations

    • The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Tel.: +1 410 955 1484; fax: +1 410 955 0152.
    • ,
  • Jerry Z. Xu

      Affiliations

    • The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Jason Yanofski

      Affiliations

    • The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Jodi McKibben

      Affiliations

    • The Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Magdalena Uhart

      Affiliations

    • The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Yu-Jen Cheng

      Affiliations

    • The Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Peter Zandi

      Affiliations

    • The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • The Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Oscar J. Bienvenu

      Affiliations

    • The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Jack Samuels

      Affiliations

    • The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Virginia Willour

      Affiliations

    • The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Laura Kasch-Semenza

      Affiliations

    • The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Paul Costa

      Affiliations

    • The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • The National Institute on Aging, The National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Karen Bandeen-Roche

      Affiliations

    • The Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • William W. Eaton

      Affiliations

    • The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • The Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Gerald Nestadt

      Affiliations

    • The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • The Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

published online 09 July 2010.

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).

Conclusion

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.

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 Paul Costa receives royalties from the NEO-PI-R. Irving M. Reti receives research support from Brainsway, Inc, and Neuronetics Inc. Jerry Z. Xu, Jason Yanofski, Jodi McKibben, Magdalena Uhart, Yu-Jen Cheng, Peter Zandi, Oscar J. Bienvenu, Jack Samuels, Virginia Willour, Laura Kasch-Semenza, Karen Bandeen-Roche, William W. Eaton, and Gerald Nestadt report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

PII: S0010-440X(10)00062-3

doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2010.05.005

Comprehensive Psychiatry
Volume 52, Issue 2 , Pages 188-194, March 2011

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