DETECTION AND ANALYSIS OF 4 POLYMORPHIC MARKERS AT THE HUMAN MONOAMINE-OXIDASE (MAO) GENE IN JAPANESE CONTROLS AND PATIENTS WITH PARKINSONS-DISEASE

Monoamine oxidase (MAO), which exists in two forms (MAOA and MAOB), pl ays an important role in the oxidative metabolism of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, and has been implicated in the etiology of Parkinso n's disease (PD), Individual variations in the activity of these enzym es appear to be genetically determined, and these genetic variations a ppear to be predominantly mediated by the MAO locus. Here, we detected and analyzed four polymorphic markers in the MAO gene using a polymer ase chain reaction method in 228 Japanese controls (102 males and 126 females) and 68 patients with PD (30 males and 38 females). Although t he analysis of the MAOA marker demonstrated no overall association bet ween its alleles and PD, a significant difference in the frequency of one particular MAOA allele between controls and patients with PD was f ound. Moreover, in a comparison of the distribution of the foil haplot ypes at the MAOA locus, there was a significant difference in the freq uency of one particular haplotype between male controls and patients w ith PD, In the MAOB polymorphism, there was no difference in the distr ibution of alleles between them. These findings support the hypothesis that the MAOA gene may affect the susceptibility of individuals to PD among MAOA polymorphic loci. (C) 1998 Academic Press.