Abstract

The association between methylation of MAOA gene promoter and alcohol and nicotine dependence has been demonstrated in women but not in men yet. Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and substance use disorders (SUD) are two types of disorders that could highly be influenced by methylation-induced changes in MAOA function. The aim of the current study is to investigate the effect of opioid addiction on methylation of MAOA gene promoter in males. DNA was extracted from the whole blood of all samples (29 opium-addicted individuals undergoing methadone treatment and 28 healthy people) according to the extraction protocol, followed by treating these samples with bisulfite kits. The investigated region including two CpG islands in the promoter region of MAOA gene contained 35 CpG dinucleotides investigated through Sanger sequencing method. The frequency of methylation at two CpG islands of MAOA gene promoter regions was equal to zero among addicted individuals undergoing methadone treatment and healthy peoples. Then, comparing methylation levels among the study group is not applicable. In conclusion, there was no association between opium addiction and methylation of the MAOA promoter regions in opium-addicted male undergoing methadone treatment.

摘要

MAOA 基因启动子的甲基化与酒精和尼古丁依赖之间的关联已在女性中得到证实，但尚未在男性中得到证实。反社会人格障碍 (ASPD) 和物质使用障碍 (SUD) 是两种可能受甲基化诱导的 MAOA 功能变化高度影响的疾病。本研究的目的是研究阿片类药物成瘾对男性 MAOA 基因启动子甲基化的影响。根据提取方案从所有样本（29 名接受美沙酮治疗的鸦片成瘾者和 28 名健康人）的全血中提取 DNA，然后用亚硫酸氢盐试剂盒处理这些样本。MAOA基因启动子区域包括两个CpG岛的研究区域包含通过Sanger测序方法研究的35个CpG二核苷酸。在接受美沙酮治疗的成瘾个体和健康人群中，MAOA 基因启动子区域的两个 CpG 岛的甲基化频率为零。然后，比较研究组之间的甲基化水平是不适用的。总之，在接受美沙酮治疗的鸦片成瘾男性中，鸦片成瘾与 MAOA 启动子区域的甲基化之间没有关联。