☆ 4.5 Article

MAO-A and COMT genotypes as possible regulators of perinatal serotonergic symptoms after in utero exposure to SSRIs

EUROPEAN NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY (2009)

Journal

EUROPEAN NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY

Volume 19, Issue 5, Pages 363-370

Publisher

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2009.01.006

Keywords

SSRI; Perinatal/neonatal adaptation problem; Serotonergic symptom; MAO-A; COMT; Polymorphism

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Abstract

Intrauterine exposure to SSRIs in late pregnancy can cause various serotonergic symptoms in the newborns. We associated the severity of these symptoms to neurotransmitter concentrations and genetic polymorphisms in the cytochrome P450, MAO-A and COMT enzymes. Altogether 20 children with prenatal exposure to citalopram or ftuoxetine were genotyped. Infants with two high-activity alleles of the MAO-A gene had significantly higher serotonergic symptom scores than infants with at least one tow-activity allele (mean 8.8 vs. 2.4, p = 0.024). These infants had also higher cord blood DHPG concentrations (p = 0.0054). Carriers of the high-activity COMT alleles had higher cord blood protactin concentrations (p = 0.044). According to our results, the higher serotonergic symptom score and cord blood DHPG concentration in rapid MAO-A metabolizers suggest that norepinephrine may modify the severity of perinatal serotonergic symptoms. The COMT 1947G>A polymorphism may affect the occurrence of respiratory distress symptoms in infants with prenatal SSRI-exposure via a mechanism involving protactin. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.

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Childhood Trauma, the Combination of MAO-A and COMT Genetic Polymorphisms and the Joy of Being Aggressive in Forensic Psychiatric Patients

Michael Fritz, Franziska Roesel, Hannah Dobler, Judith Streb, Manuela Dudeck

Summary: Forensic psychiatric patients often exhibit aggression and violent behaviors, with research identifying two distinct dimensions of aggression - instrumental and reactive aggression. Genetic polymorphisms in catecholamine-converting enzymes like MAO-A and COMT, together with childhood trauma, have been shown to potentially enhance aggressive behavior in adulthood. Furthermore, a combination of unfavorable enzyme genotypes and childhood maltreatment may increase violent behavior. This study found that the unfavorable MAO-A genotype was slightly more frequent in the test population, and that a combination of unfavorable gene polymorphisms and childhood trauma significantly increased aggression scores for both reactive and appetitive aggression. In addition, having both disadvantageous genotypes and a negative childhood was a minor predictor for increased reactive aggression, but strongly influenced the pleasure derived from being aggressive.

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