Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are heterogeneous diseases that are triggered by a number of environmental and genetic factors. The aim of the current study was to investigate an association of the rs1799836 genetic variant of the neurotransmitter-related gene MAOB with ASDs. In total, 262 patients diagnosed with ASDs and their 126 healthy siblings were included in the present study. All individuals represented a Kazakhstani population. The distributions of the rs1799836 genotype were in accordance with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium among both cases and controls. No statistically significant differences were found in the allelic distributions of this polymorphism between ASD and control subjects (A/G: for males OR = 1.11 , 95% 0.59-2.06, p = 0.75 ; for females OR = 1.14 , 95% 0.70-1.86, p = 0.76 ). However, the increased score in the overall CARS was significantly associated with the A allele of rs1799836 MAOB for females ( OR = 2.31 , 95% 1.06-5.04, p = 0.03 ). The obtained results suggest that the rs1799836 polymorphism of the MAOB gene may have little contribution to the development of ASDs but may be involved in pathways contributing to ASD symptom severity in females. Further large-scale investigations are required to uncover possible relationships between rs1799836 MAOB and ASD progression in a gender-specific manner and their possible application as a therapeutic target.