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

References 

  1. Samuels J, Eaton WW, Bienvenu OJ, Brown CH, Costa PT, Nestadt G. Prevalence and correlates of personality disorders in a community sample. Br J Psychiatry. 2002;180:536–542
  2. Mercy JA, Krug EG, Dahlberg LL, Zwi AB. Violence and health: the United States in a global perspective. Am J Publ Health. 2003;92:256–261
  3. Luntz BK, Widom CS. Antisocial personality disorder in abused and neglected children grown up. Am J Psychiatry. 1994;151:670–674
  4. Widom CS. In:  Stoff DM,  Breiling J,  Maser JD editor. Handbook of antisocial behavior. New York: Wiley; 1997;
  5. Aprison MH, Ferster CB. Neurochemical correlates of behavior: correlation of brain monoamine oxidase activity with behavioral changes after iproniazid and 5-hydroxytryptophan. J Neurochem. 1961;6:350–357
  6. Pintar JE, Barbosa J, Francke U, Castiglione CM, Hawkins M, Breakefield XO. Gene for monoamine oxidase type A assigned to the human X chromosome. J Neurosci. 1981;1:166–175
  7. Sims KB, de la Chapelle A, Norio R, Sankila EM, Hsu YP, Rinehart WB, et al. Monoamine oxidase deficiency in males with an X chromosome deletion. Neuron. 1989;2:1069–1076
  8. Brunner HG, Nelen M, Breakefield XO, Ropers HH, van Oost BA. Abnormal behavior associated with a point mutation in the structural gene for monoamine oxidase A. Science. 1993;262:578–580
  9. Cases O, Seif I, Grimsby J, Gaspar P, Chen K, Pournin S, et al. Aggressive behavior and altered amounts of brain serotonin and norepinephrine in mice lacking MAOA. Science. 1995;268:1763–1766
  10. Sabol SZ, Hu S, Hamer D. A functional polymorphism in the monoamine oxidase A gene promoter. Hum Genet. 1998;103:273–279
  11. Denney RM, Koch H, Craig IW. Association between monoamine oxidase A activity in human male skin fibroblasts and genotype of the MAOA promoter-associated variable number tandem repeat. Hum Genet. 1999;105:542–551
  12. Samochowiec J, Lesch KP, Rottmann M, Smolka M, Syagailo YV, Okladnova O, et al. Association of a regulatory polymorphism in the promoter region of the monoamine oxidase: a gene with antisocial alcoholism. Psychiatry Res. 1999;86:67–72
  13. Schmidt LG, Sander T, Kuhn S, Smolka M, Rommelspacher H, Samochowiec J, et al. Different allele distribution of a regulatory MAOA gene promoter polymorphism in antisocial and anxious-depressive alcoholics. J Neural Transm. 2000;107:681–689
  14. Gerra G, Garofano L, Bosari S, Pellegrini C, Zaimovic A, Moi G, et al. Analysis of monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) promoter polymorphism in male heroin-dependent subjects: behavioural and personality correlates. J Neural Transm. 2004;111:611–621
  15. Widom CS. The cycle of violence. Science. 1989;244:160–166
  16. Nilsson KW, Sjöberg RL, Damberg M, Leppert J, Ohrvik J, Alm PO, et al. Role of monoamine oxidase A genotype and psychosocial factors in male adolescent criminal activity. Biol Psychiatry. 2006;59:121–127
  17. Young SE, Smolen A, Hewitt JK, Haberstick BC, Stallings MC, Corley RP, et al. Interaction between MAO-A genotype and maltreatment in the risk for conduct disorder: failure to confirm in adolescent patients. Am J Psychiatry. 2006;163:1019–1025
  18. Foley DL, Eaves LJ, Wormley B, Silberg JL, Maes HH, Kuhn J, et al. Childhood adversity, monoamine oxidase A genotype, and risk for conduct disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2004;61:738–744
  19. Caspi A, McClay J, Moffitt TE, Mill J, Martin J, Craig IW, et al. Role of genotype in the cycle of violence in maltreated children. Science. 2002;297:851–854
  20. Huizinga D, Haberstick BC, Smolen A, Menard S, Young SE, Corley RP, et al. Childhood maltreatment, subsequent antisocial behavior, and the role of monoamine oxidase A genotype. Biol Psychiatry. 2006;60:677–683
  21. Widom CS, Brzustowicz LM. MAOA and the “cycle of violence:” childhood abuse and neglect, MAOA genotype, and risk for violent and antisocial behavior. Biol Psychiatry. 2006;7:684–689
  22. Reti IM, Samuels JF, Eaton WW, Bienvenu OJ, Costa PT, Nestadt G. Adult antisocial personality traits are associated with experiences of low parental care and maternal overprotection. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2002;106:126–133
  23. Bierer LM, Yehuda R, Schmeidler J, Mitropoulou V, New AS, Silverman JM, et al. Abuse and neglect in childhood: relationship to personality disorder diagnoses. CNS Spectr. 2003;8:737–754
  24. Costa PT, McCrae RR. Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI): Professional Manual. Odessa (Fla): Psychological Assessment Resources; 1992;
  25. Eaton WW, Holzer CE, Von Korff M, Anthony JC, Helzer JE, George L, et al. The design of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area surveys: the control and measurement of error. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1984;41:942–948
  26. Regier DA, Myers JK, Kramer M, Robins LN, Blazer DG, Hough RL, et al. The NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) Program: historical context, major objectives, and study population characteristics. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1984;41:934–941
  27. Eaton WW, Anthony JC, Gallo J, et al. Natural history of diagnostic interview schedule/DSM-IV major depression: the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area follow-up. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1997;54:993–999
  28. Yang BZ, Zhao H, Kranzler HR, Gelernter J. Practical population group assignment with selected informative markers: characteristics and properties of Bayesian clustering via STRUCTURE. Genet Epidemiol. 2005;28:302–312
  29. Loranger AW, Sartorius N, Andreoli A, et al. The International Personality Disorder Examination. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1994;51:215–224
  30. Miller JD, Lynam DR, Widiger TA, Leukefeld C. Personality disorders as extreme variants of common personality dimensions: can the Five-Factor Model adequately represent psychopathy?. J Pers. 2001;69:253–276
  31. Williams LM, Gatt JM, Kuan SA, Dobson-Stone C, Palmer DM, Paul RH, et al. A polymorphism of the MAOA gene is associated with emotional brain markers and personality traits on an antisocial index. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2009;34:1797–1809
  32. Miller JD, Bagby RM, Pilkonis PA, Reynolds SK, Lynam DR. A simplified technique for scoring DSM-IV personality disorders with the Five-Factor Model. Assessment. 2005;12:404–415
  33. Deckert J, Catalano M, Syagailo YV, Bosi M, Okladnova O, Di Bella D, et al. Excess of high activity monoamine oxidase A gene promoter alleles in female patients with panic disorder. Hum Mol Genet. 1999;8:621–624
  34. Weder N, Yang BZ, Douglas-Palumberi H, Massey J, Krystal JH, Gelernter J, et al. MAOA genotype, maltreatment, and aggressive behavior: the changing impact of genotype at varying levels of trauma. Biol Psychiatry. 2009;65:417–424
  35. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services . Trends in the well-being of America's children and youth. Washington, DC: U.S. Printing Office; 1998;
  36. Kleinman JC, Kessel SS. Racial differences in low birth weight: trends and risk factors. N Engl J Med. 1987;317:749–753
  37. Golub A, Johnson BD, Dunlap E. The race/ethnicity disparity in misdemeanor marijuana arrests in New York City. Criminol Public Policy. 2007;6:131–164
  38. Derefinko KJ, Lynam DR. Convergence and divergence among self-report psychopathy measures: a personality-based approach. J Personal Disord. 2006;20:261–280
  39. Ross SR, Benning SD, Patrick CJ, Thompson A, Thurston A. Factors of the psychopathic personality inventory: criterion-related validity and relationship to the BIS/BAS and five-factor models of personality. Assessment. 2008;

 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

Article Tools