Family-based association study between the monoamine oxidase A gene and obesity: implications for psychopharmacogenetic studies.

Family studies have reported that obesity has a strong heritable component. It has been suggested that a neurotransmitter dysfunction could be involved in mental disorders and obesity; therefore, candidate genes in psychiatric disorders could be a risk factor for obesity. We investigated the association between the monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) gene and obesity.