Haplotype Analysis of Genetic Polymorphism in Antisocial Alcoholism
Ronnachai Kongsakon MD*, Nuankanya Sathirapongsasuti MD**, Budsaba Rerkamnuaychoke DMSc***
Affiliation : * Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand ** Graduate Program in Translational Medicine, Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand *** Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Background : A number of studies have reported a possible association between Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA)
polymorphisms and alcoholism. MAOA dysfunction appears to be related to a subtype of alcoholism with antisocial impulsive
features (type 2: antisocial alcoholism). Functional polymorphisms in the MAOA gene are believed to be good candidates
to consider in the inter-individual differences that exist in the susceptibility to alcoholism and/or antisocial personality.
Objective : To examine the association between alcoholism and the allele state of 1) 30-bp repeat polymorphism in the
promoter region, 2) 941T > G polymorphism in exon 8, and 3) 1460C > T polymorphism in exon 14 of the MAOA gene.
Material and Method: Genomic DNA was extracted from venous blood samples of 251 alcoholic subjects and 77 healthy
controls. The alcoholic subjects were divided into two groups, type 1 (n = 125) and type 2 (n = 126). All of the subjects
were unrelated males of Thai, Thai/Chinese, or Chinese descent.
Results : There was no significant difference in the allele frequencies or haplotype distribution between type 1, type 2
antisocial alcoholism, and healthy controls.
Conclusion : We are still unable to conclude the association between genetic variation of MAOA locus and antisocial
alcoholism in Thai males according to under prevalent condition of the sample size and allele frequency.
Keywords : Antisocial alcoholism, MAOA genotyping, Polymorphisms, Alleles, Haplotypes
