No Evidence of an Association Between a Functional Monoamine Oxidase A Gene Polymorphism and Completed Suicide

Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) has been implicated in the control of aggression &/or impulsivity in humans & been involved in suicide. This gene has a functional polymorphism in which there is a variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) in the upstream region. We hypothesized that MAOA dysfunction due to this polymorphism was associated with suicide genetically through the disinhibition of aggression &/or impulsivity. We performed an association study between completed suicides & the MAOA-uVNTR polymorphism. No significant difference in genotype distribution or allele frequencies was found between completed suicides and comparison groups. These results show no evidence of an association between the MAOA-uVNTR polymorphism & completed suicides & suggest that MAOA is not involved in the susceptibility to suicide. (25 refs.)