Am J Psychiatry 1996; 153:1209-1211
Copyright © 1996 by American Psychiatric Association
Association of monoamine oxidase A alleles with alcoholism among male Chinese in Taiwan
YP Hsu, EW Loh, WJ Chen, CC Chen, JM Yu and AT Cheng
Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
OBJECTIVE: The role of monoamine oxidase (MAO) in alcoholism was assessed
by genetic association studies separately in five ethnic groups in Taiwan.
METHOD: Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) and dinucleotide
repeat polymorphisms (DNRP) were used to determine MAOA and MAOB alleles in
male alcoholic patients and nonalcoholic comparison subjects among Han
Chinese and four aboriginal groups. RESULTS: Significant associations of
alcohol dependence with MAOA alleles (RFLP and DNRP) were found among the
Han Chinese, but not among the aboriginal groups. No significant
association with MAOB DNRP alleles was found in any group. CONCLUSIONS:
Genetic heterogeneity may underlie alcoholism among different ethnic groups
in Taiwan, and MAOA mutations may play a role in susceptibility to
alcoholism among Han Chinese.
