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Association Between Bipolar Disorder and Monoamine Oxidase A Gene Polymorphisms: Results of a Multicenter Study

Published Online:1 Jun 2000

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Although genetic factors have been implicated in the etiology of bipolar disorder, no specific gene has been conclusively identified. Given the link between abnormalities in serotonergic neurotransmission and bipolar disorder, a candidate gene association approach was applied to study the involvement of the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene, which codes for a catabolic enzyme of serotonin, in the susceptibility to bipolar disorder.METHOD: In France and Switzerland, 272 patients with bipolar disorder and 122 healthy subjects were typed for three polymorphic markers of the MAOA gene: the MAOA-CA repeat, the MAOA restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and a repeat directly adjacent to the variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) locus.RESULTS: A significant difference in the distribution of the alleles for the MAOA-CA repeat was observed between the female bipolar patients and comparison group.CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in the French and Swiss population confirm findings from two studies conducted in the United Kingdom.