Monoamine oxidase a gene polymorphism associated with hostility in male population of 45-64 in Russia/Siberia

INTRODUCTION: The presence of low-activity alleles of the MAOA gene increases the risk of hostility. OBJECTIVES: To study the association of hostility with high and low-active variants of the MAOA gene in an open population of men 45-64 years. METHODS: Under the WHO International Program MONICA-psychosocial and HAPIEE a representative sample of men aged 45–64 years (n = 781 men, average age was 56.48 ± 0.2 years) examined in 2003-2005. All respondents independently completed a questionnaire on hostility. From the surveyed sample using the random number method 156 men were selected who were genotyped for MAOA-uVNTR polymorphism. RESULTS: It was found the level of hostility in the population of men was 60.3%. In persons with low-active alleles of the MAOA-L gene (allele 2 and 3) a high level of hostility was more common - 50.9%. The results of building a logistic regression model showed that the presence of low-active alleles (2; 3) of the MAOA gene increases the likelihood of hostility OR = 2,103 (95% CI 1,137-3,889, p = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings allow us to conclude that the low-active allele of the MAOA-L gene is associated with hostility.