(c) University of South Florida
筆頭著者のHenian Chen准教授
女性だけを幸せにする遺伝子が見つかった。MAOAと呼ばれる遺伝子の低発現型で，被験者345人の自己報告による幸福度との関係を分析したところ，この遺伝子を持つ女性は持たない女性より幸福だった。男性では同様の関連性は見られなかった。MAOA遺伝子は，セロトニンやドパミンといった気分をよくする神経伝達物質を分解する酵素に作用し，その活性を制御する。MAOA遺伝子が低発現型の場合，これらの物質が増える。女性は不安障害や気分障害に罹りやすい反面，全般的に男性より幸せに感じているといわれるが，こうした精神状態の性差の解明に今回の発見が役立つと考えられる。（吉田素子）
Study Finds Gene That Predicts Happiness in Women
New Finding May Help Explain the Gender Difference in Happiness
A new study has found a gene that appears to make women happy, but it doesn’t work for men. The finding may help explain why women are often happier than men, the research team said.
Scientists at the University of South Florida (USF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute reported that the low-expression form of the gene monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) is associated with higher self-reported happiness in women. No such association was found in men.
The findings appear online in the journal Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry.
“This is the first happiness gene for women,” said lead author Henian Chen, MD, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, USF College of Public Health.
“I was surprised by the result, because low expression of MAOA has been related to some negative outcomes like alcoholism, aggressiveness and antisocial behavior,” said Chen, who directs the Biostatistics Core at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. “It’s even called the warrior gene by some scientists, but, at least for women, our study points to a brighter side of this gene.”
While they experience higher rates of mood and anxiety disorders, women tend to report greater overall life happiness than do men. The reason for this remains unclear, Chen said.
［単語和訳］
Gene：遺伝子 Predicts：～を予測する Gender Difference：性差
National Institutes of Health：国立衛生研究所（米国） Psychiatric：精神医学の low-expression form：低発現型 monoamine oxidase A：モノアミン酸化酵素A is associated with：～と関連している self-reported：自己報告の
online：オンラインで Neuro-Psychopharmacology：神経精神薬理学 Biological Psychiatry：生物学的精神医学（Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatryは雑誌名）
lead author：筆頭著者 MD：医師 PhD：博士 associate professor：准教授 Epidemiology：疫学 Biostatistics：生物統計学
alcoholism：アルコール依存症 aggressiveness：攻撃性 antisocial behavior：反社会的行動 clinical：臨床的な Translational：トランスレーショナル（基礎研究を応用につなげることを目指した） warrior：戦士 a brighter side of：～の明るい方の側面
mood and anxiety disorders：気分障害・不安障害
