Evidence that brain MAO A activity does not correspond to MAO A genotype in healthy male subjects
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Published on: February 8, 2019
Joanna S Fowler1, Nelly Alia-Klein, Aarti Kriplani
1Medical Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA. fowler@bnl.gov
Background:
A functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the monoamine oxidase A (MAO A) gene has two common alleles that are referred to as the high and low MAO A genotypes. We report the first in vivo human study to determine whether there is an association between MAO A genotype and brain MAO A activity in healthy male subjects.
Methods:
Brain MAO A activity was measured with positron emission tomography and [(11)C]clorgyline in 38 healthy adult male nonsmokers genotyped for MAO A polymorphism.
Results:
There was no significant difference in brain MAO A activity between the high (n = 26) and low (n = 12) MAO A genotypes.
Conclusions:
The lack of an association between the high and low MAO A genotype and brain MAO A activity suggests that this polymorphism by itself does not contribute to differences in brain MAO A activity in healthy adult male subjects.
