National Institute on Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
Sci Rep. 2017 Mar 27;7:45321. doi: 10.1038/srep45321.
The rs1137070 polymorphism of monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) is associated with alcoholism and smoking behavior. However, the association between rs1137070 and heroin addiction remains unclear. In this study, we examined the allelic distribution of rs1137070 in 1,035 heroin abusers and 2,553 healthy controls and investigated the interactive effects of rs1137070 and heroin addiction on gray matter volume (GMV) based on 78 heroin abusers and 79 healthy controls. The C allele frequency of rs1137070 was significantly higher in heroin abusers. Heroin addiction and the rs1137070 variant interactively altered measures of GMV in the anterior cingulate cortex, orbital frontal cortex, temporal pole, and insula, which were correlated with cognitive function. Heroin abusers with the C allele had lower measures of GMV in these regions than the healthy controls with the same allele, whereas those with the T allele displayed a different trend. The altered brain regions were connected with white matter tracts, yielding a structural network that partially overlapped with the salience network. These findings suggest that the low activity-related C allele of MAOA rs1137070 is associated with an increase in the sensitivity to heroin addiction and the damaging effects of heroin abuse on cognition and the salience network.
单胺氧化酶 A（MAOA）的 rs1137070 多态性与酗酒和吸烟行为有关。然而，rs1137070 与海洛因成瘾之间的关联尚不清楚。在这项研究中，我们检查了 1035 名海洛因滥用者和 2553 名健康对照者中 rs1137070 的等位基因分布，并基于 78 名海洛因滥用者和 79 名健康对照者，调查了 rs1137070 与海洛因成瘾之间的相互作用对灰质体积（GMV）的影响。rs1137070 的 C 等位基因频率在海洛因滥用者中显著升高。海洛因成瘾和 rs1137070 变异体在额前扣带皮层、眶额皮层、颞极和岛叶的 GMV 测量值上相互作用，这些区域与认知功能有关。与具有相同等位基因的健康对照者相比，携带 C 等位基因的海洛因滥用者这些区域的 GMV 测量值较低，而携带 T 等位基因的海洛因滥用者则表现出不同的趋势。改变的脑区与白质束相连，产生一个结构网络，部分与突显网络重叠。这些发现表明，MAOA rs1137070 的低活性相关 C 等位基因与对海洛因成瘾的敏感性增加以及海洛因滥用对认知和突显网络的损害作用有关。
