D-amino acid oxidase activator gene (DAOA) variation affects cerebrospinal fluid homovanillic acid concentrations in healthy Caucasians

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Dimitrios Andreou
  • Peter Saetre
  • Werge, Thomas
  • Ole A Andreassen
  • Ingrid Agartz
  • Göran C Sedvall
  • Håkan Hall
  • Lars Terenius
  • Erik G Jönsson
The D-amino acid oxidase activator (DAOA) protein regulates the function of D-amino oxidase (DAO), an enzyme that catalyzes the oxidative deamination of D-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (D-DOPA) and D-serine. D-DOPA is converted to L-3,4-DOPA, a precursor of dopamine, whereas D-serine participates in glutamatergic transmission. We hypothesized that DAOA polymorphisms are associated with dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline turnover in the human brain. Four single-nucleotide polymorphisms, previously reported to be associated with schizophrenia, were genotyped. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were drawn by lumbar puncture, and the concentrations of the major dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid (HVA), the major serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and the major noradrenaline metabolite 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) were measured. Two of the investigated polymorphisms, rs3918342 and rs1421292, were significantly associated with CSF HVA concentrations. Rs3918342 was found to be nominally associated with CSF 5-HIAA concentrations. None of the polymorphisms were significantly associated with MHPG concentrations. Our results indicate that DAOA gene variation affects dopamine turnover in healthy individuals, suggesting that disturbed dopamine turnover is a possible mechanism behind the observed associations between genetic variation in DAOA and behavioral phenotypes in humans.
Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Volume262
Issue number7
Pages (from-to)549-56
Number of pages8
ISSN0940-1334
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012

ID: 48611219