1Mayana Zatz, 1Camila Guindalini, 2Sandra Scivoletto, 1Ricardo G.M. Ferreira, 1Agnes Nishimura, 2Monica L. Zilberman, 2Marco Aurélio M. Peluso
1Human Genome Research Center, Department of Biology, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo, Cidade Universitária , São Paulo, SP, Brazil, 2GREA - Interdisciplinary Group of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Institute and Department of Psychiatry , Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Among the different possible genes involved in the alcoholism etiology, the X-linked Monoamine Oxidase A (MAOA) gene is a good candidate. However, one of the main challenges in association studies is to distinguish the contributions of social habits from genetic predisposition in the alcohol-dependent individual. Brazil offers a good opportunity for association studies because, as opposed to men, most Brazilian women do not have the habit to consume alcohol, except socially. The aim of this study was to assess whether a functional VNTR polymorphism in the promoter region of the MAOA gene is associated with alcoholism, comparing patients of both sexes. Ninety-three alcohol-dependent patients (51 males, 42 females) and 93 sex-matched normal controls were engaged. In the total sample, the genotype containing at least one 3-repeat allele was significantly more frequent among alcohol-dependent subjects than controls (p=0.01). However, when the two genders were analyzed separately, the difference was statistically significant only for females. Further research in other populations with similar gender differences in drinking habits, controlled for potentially confounding variables such as genetic stratification is needed to validate the present results. Nevertheless, the results of the present investigation suggest that there is an association between the MAOA promoter polymorphism genotype and susceptibility to alcoholism, more evident in females than in males. These preliminary results point out the importance of taking gender into consideration in association studies of alcoholism. Our results suggest that this MAOA polymorphism could play a role in susceptibility to alcoholism, which may differ across genders.
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