No evidence of an association between a functional monoamine oxidase a gene polymorphism and completed suicides.

Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) has been implicated in the control of aggression and/or impulsivity in humans and been involved in suicide. This gene has a functional polymorphism in which there is a variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) in the upstream region (MAOA-uVNTR). We hypothesized that MAOA dysfunction due to this polymorphism was associated with suicide genetically through the disinhibition of aggression and/or impulsivity. We performed an association study between completed suicides and the MAOA-uVNTR polymorphism. No significant difference in genotype distribution or allele frequencies was found between completed suicides and comparison groups either in males or females. These results show no evidence of an association between the MAOA-uVNTR polymorphism and completed suicides and suggest that MAOA is not involved in the susceptibility to suicide. Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.