Polymorphisms in genes coding for the serotonin receptor subtype 1A (HTR1A), the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4), and the serotonin degrading enzyme monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) are associated with anxiety, impulsivity, and neurotic personality in humans.
Monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) plays an important role in various functions of the brain, such as regulation of mood, anxiety and aggression, and dysregulation of MAO-A is observed in stress-related psychiatric disorders.
Perseveration in a spatial-discrimination serial reversal learning task is differentially affected by MAO-A and MAO-B inhibition and associated with reduced anxiety and peripheral serotonin levels.
The docking experiments revealed that the synthesized derivatives were potential inhibitors of MAO-A protein, which plays a central role in managing depression and anxiety disorders.
Burned mice showed "delayed" depressive-like behavior combined with a degree of anxiety; this phenomenon is likely associated with the increase in MAOA expression in the hippocampus.
The study did not demonstrate the relationship between the 5-HTT and MAO-A gene polymorphisms, and the severity of anxiety and mood disorders in healthy late-reproductive-stage women.
Our findings support a possible association, depending on gender, between the MAOA-uVNTR polymorphism and psychopathological disorders such as anxiety, which affects high rates of children and adolescents.
Furthermore, the analysis of the 30-bp VNTR polymorphism in the MAO A promoter region demonstrated slight differences in anxiety levels between the women, indicating that those with a 4/4 genotype had higher severity of anxiety symptoms.
Logistic regression revealed that MAOA low-activity alleles, higher mental abilities, occurrence of anxiety disorders and absence of substance-use disorder were significant independent predictors for higher education in male subjects.
The current study aimed to determine whether maternal symptoms of depression or anxiety were associated with decreased placental expression of monoamine oxidase A (MAO A), the enzyme which metabolises 5-HT into 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid.
Early aversive life experiences therefore might increase the vulnerability to anxiety disorders in the presence of homozygosity for the COMT 158met allele or low-active MAOA-uVNTR alleles.
In boys, low-activity monoamine oxidase A gene was associated with increases in child anxiety and depression in interaction with caretaker depression, hostility, family conflict, and family stress.
Indeed, treating animals with MAO-A inhibitors or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) normalized anxiety differences between wild-type and mutant animals.
Because fibromyalgia (FM) is often comorbid with anxiety, and monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) was reported to be associated with anxiety, we determine if there is MAOA gene polymorphism associated with FM patients.
A SERT gene genotype with no apparent individual effect on risk and known to be associated with anxiety is preferentially transmitted to children with AN (chi2 trend=9.457, 1 df, P=0.0021) and AN-R alone (chi2 trend=7.477, 1 df, P=0.0063) when the 'more active' MAOA gene variant is also transmitted.
Polymorphisms in the regulatory region of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT), in intron 7 of the tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) gene and in the MAOA gene were previously reported to be associated with mood and anxiety disorders, impulsivity and aggression.