Methamphetamine abuse is a serious public health concern affecting millions of people worldwide, and there are currently no viable pharmacotherapies to treat methamphetamine abuse. Methamphetamine increases extracellular dopamine (DA) concentrations through an interaction with the DA transporter (DAT) and the vesicular monoamine transporter-2 (VMAT2), leading to reward and abuse. While numerous studies have focused on DAT as a target for the discovery of pharmacotherapies to treat psychostimulant abuse, these efforts have been met with limited success. Taking into account the fact that methamphetamine interacts with VMAT2 to increase DA extracellular concentrations; the focus of the current work was to develop novel compounds that interact with VMAT2 to inhibit the effects of methamphetamine. Lobeline, the principal alkaloid found in Lobelia inflata, inhibits VMAT2 binding and function. Inhibition of VMAT2 was hypothesized to be responsible for the observed lobeline-induced inhibition of methamphetamine-evoked DA release in striatal slices and decrease in methamphetamine self-administration in rats. Lobeline has recently completed Phase Ib clinical trials demonstrating safety in methamphetamine abusers. Lobeline is also a potent inhibitor of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), limiting selectivity for VMAT2. Chemical defunctionalization of the lobeline molecule afforded analogs, meso-transdiene (MTD) and lobelane, which exhibited decreased affinity for nAChRs. MTD, an unsaturated analog of lobeline, exhibited similar affinity for VMAT2 and increased affinity for DAT compared to lobeline. Conformationally-restricted MTD analogs exhibited decreased affinity for DAT compared to MTD, while retaining affinity at VMAT2. One analog, UKMH-106 exhibited high affinity and selectivity for VMAT2 and inhibited METH-evoked DA release from striatal slices. Unfortunately, the MTD analogs exhibited poor water solubility which limited further investigation of these promising analogs. Importantly lobelane, a saturated analog of lobeline, exhibited increased affinity and selectivity for VMAT2 compared to lobeline. To improve water solubility, a N-1,2-dihydroxypropyl (diol) moiety was incorporated into the lobelane molecule. GZ-793A, an N-1,2-diol analog, potently and competitively inhibited VMAT2 function, exhibiting over 50-fold selectivity for VMAT2 over DAT, serotonin transporters and nAChRs. GZ-793A released DA from preloaded synaptic vesicles, fitting a two-site model with the high-affinity site inhibited by tetrabenazine and reserpine (classical VMAT2 inhibitors), suggesting a VMAT2-mediated mechanism of release. Further, low concentrations of GZ-793A that selectively interact with high-affinity sites on VMAT2 to evoke DA release, inhibit methamphetamine-evoked DA release from synaptic vesicles. Results showed that increasing concentrations of GZ-793A produced a rightward shift in the METH concentration response; however, the Schild regression revealed a slope different from unity, consistent with surmountable allosteric inhibition. In addition, GZ-793A specifically inhibited methamphetamine-evoked DA release in striatal slices and methamphetamine self-administration in rats. To examine the possibility that GZ-793A produced DA depletion, the effect of a behaviorally active dose of GZ-793A on DA content in striatal tissue and striatal vesicles was determined. GZ-793A administration did not alter DA content in striatal tissue or vesicles and pretreatment with GZ-793A prior to methamphetamine administration did not exacerbate the DA depleting effects of methamphetamine. Importantly, GZ-793A was shown to protect against methamphetamine-induced striatal DA depletions. Thus, GZ-793A represents an exciting new lead in the development of pharmacotherapies to treat methamphetamine abuse.

The shortcomings of current antidepressant agents prompts the design of novel multimodal antidepressants and the identification of new antidepressant targets, especially those located at sub-cellular level. Such antidepressants should possess improved response rates as well as safety profiles. Methylene blue (MB) is reported to possess diverse pharmacological actions and is attracting increasing attention for the treatment of a variety of disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression. MB acts on both monoamine oxidase (MAO) and the nitric oxide (NO)-cGMP pathway, and possesses antidepressant activity in rodents. The principal goal of this study was to design a close structural analogue of MB and to evaluate the effects of these structural changes on MAO inhibition, a well-known antidepressant target. Furthermore, MAO inhibition is also responsible for cardiovascular toxicity in clinically used MAOI inhibitors. For this purpose we investigated the antidepressant properties of the synthetic MB analogue (ethyl-thioniniumchloride; ETC) as well as azure B, the major metabolite of MB, in the forced swim test (FST). ETC was synthesized with a high degree of purity from diethyl-p-phenylenediamine with 6% yield. ETC was firstly evaluated as a potential inhibitor of recombinant human MAO-A and MAO-B. Azure B and ETC were evaluated over a dosage range of 4-30 mg/kg for antidepressant-like activity in the acute FST in rats, and the results were compared to those obtained with saline, imipramine (15 mg/kg) and MB (15 mg/kg) treated rats. Locomotor activity was evaluated to ensure that changes in swim motivation are based on antidepressant response and not due to an indirect effect of the drug on locomotor activity. The results document that ETC inhibits MAO-A and MAO-B with IC50 values of 0.51 μM and 0.592 μM, respectively. Furthermore, ETC inhibits MAO-A and MAO-B reversibly, while the mode of inhibition is most likely competitive. In the acute FST, azure B and ETC were more effective than imipramine and MB in reversing immobility, without inducing locomotor effects. Azure B and ETC increased swimming behaviour during acute treatment, which is indicative of enhanced serotonergic neurotransmission. Azure B and ETC did not affect noradrenergicmediated climbing behaviour. These results suggest that azure B may be a contributor to the antidepressant effect of MB, and acts via increasing serotonergic transmission. Secondly, small structural changes made to MB do not abolish its antidepressant effect even though ETC is a less potent MAO-A inhibitor than MB. / MSc (Pharmaceutical Chemistry), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

R-(-)-Phenylephrine (PE) is the most commonly used nonprescription oral nasal decongestant in the United States. It is a selective α1-adrenergic receptor agonist and has many years of safe usage. However, the efficacy of PE is controversial, due to its extensive pre-systemic metabolism, which leads to low and variable oral bioavailability (38 ± 9%, mean ± SD). Sulfation plays a very important role in pre-systemic metabolism of PE. The sulfation of PE occurs at its phenolic group, which is the preferred structural feature of many sulfotransferase (SULT) substrates. Compounds with phenolic groups have similar structures to PE, which may share the same SULT isoforms with PE and have the potential to inhibit PE sulfation. Co-administration of the phenolic compounds from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) list, Everything Added to Food in the United States (EAFUS), or dietary supplements along with PE could be an effective strategy to inhibit the pre-systemic sulfation of PE. The primary side effect of PE is hypertension. Since monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors may increase the risk of hypertension, they should not be taken with PE. In order to increase the oral bioavailability and eventually improve the efficacy of PE, this research project aimed to investigate the feasibility of inhibiting the pre-systemic sulfation of PE with phenolic dietary compounds. Considering the safety issue, this research project also aimed to investigate whether these phenolic dietary compounds have inhibitory effects on MAO-A/B. A human colon adenocarcinoma epithelial cell line (LS180), which shows sulfation activity, was used as a model to test the effect of these phenolic compounds on the sulfation of PE. The extent of disappearance of PE was significantly (p < 0.05) decreased to the following (mean ± SEM, as % of control) when incubated with phenolic dietary compounds in LS180 cells for 14 - 19 hrs: curcumin 24.5 ± 14.0%, guaiacol 51.3 ± 8.0%, isoeugenol 73.9 ± 4.3%, pterostilbene 70.6 ± 4.2%, resveratrol 14.2 ± 28.0%, zingerone 52.4 ± 14.6%, and the combinations eugenol + propylparaben 42.6 ± 8.4%, vanillin + propylparaben 37.0 ± 11.2%, eugenol + propylparaben + vanillin + ascorbic acid 31.1 ± 10.9%, eugenol + vanillin 57.5 ± 20.6%, and pterostilbene + zingerone 36.5 ± 7.0%. The combinations of curcumin + resveratrol and curcumin + pterostilbene + resveratrol + zingerone almost completely inhibited PE disappearance. PE sulfate formation was inhibited 67.0 ± 4.2% (mean ± SEM, as % of control) by guaiacol and 71.7 ± 2.6% by pterostilbene + zingerone. The combinations of curcumin + resveratrol and curcumin + pterostilbene + resveratrol + zingerone inhibited ≥ 99% of PE sulfate formation. These results were consistent with those from analysis of the disappearance of PE in LS180 cells. These phenolic inhibitors for sulfation were also tested to see whether they have any inhibitory effects on MAO-A or B. Significant inhibition was found with curcumin, guaiacol, isoeugenol, pterostilbene, resveratrol, and zingerone on both MAO-A and B. Further kinetic studies were conducted to investigate the concentration of an inhibitor at which the enzyme activity is reduced by half (IC50) (mean ± SEM) of these inhibitors. The most potent inhibitor for MAO-A was resveratrol (0.313 ± 0.008 μM) followed by isoeugenol (3.72 ± 0.20 μM), curcumin (12.9 ± 1.3 μM), pterostilbene (13.4 ± 1.5 μM), zingerone (16.3 ± 1.1 μM), and guaiacol (131 ± 6 μM). The most potent inhibitor for MAO-B was pterostilbene (0.138 ± 0.013 μM), followed by curcumin (6.30 ± 0.11 μM), resveratrol (15.8 ± 1.3 μM), isoeugenol (102 ± 5 μM), and guaiacol (322 ± 27 μM). Since these phenolic compounds all have relatively low oral bioavailability, any MAO inhibition which could occur systemically is expected to be limited. Most inhibitory effects on MAO-A and B if any would be limited to the GI tract and liver. In conclusion, several compounds and combinations showed inhibition on PE sulfation in LS180 cell model, which may have potential to inhibit the pre-systemic sulfation of PE to improve its oral bioavailability. These compounds also showed the unexpected inhibition on human MAO-A and B with different potency, which could guide the selection of phenolic dietary compounds for further studies, along with the sulfation inhibition results and their pharmacokinetic (PK) properties such as bioavailability.

Abstract FUNCTIONAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CONSEQUENCES OF SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISMS IN THE HUMAN VESICULAR MONOAMINE TRANSPORTER 1 GENE (SLC18A1) By Sally Gamal Shukry, B.S. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2012 Major Advisor: Jennifer K. Stewart Associate Professor and Graduate Director, Department of Biology Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the human VMAT1 gene (SLC18A1) have been associated with schizophrenia in three different populations: Han Chinese, Western European and Japanese. Effects of these mutations on transport function of the hVMAT1 protein have not been reported. The goal of this study was to investigate functional and biochemical differences in human VMAT1 proteins with a threonine or proline at amino acid position 4 (Thr4Pro) and a serine or threonine at position 98 (Ser98Thr). COS1 cells were transfected with variant SNPs coding for 4Thr/98Ser, 4Pro/98Ser, or 4Thr98Thr. Western blotting demonstrated robust over expression of the genes and no differences in electrophoretic mobility of the proteins. Maximal transport of serotonin by the VMAT1 protein with 4Pro/98Ser was less than that of the 4Thr/98Ser or the 4Thr/98Thr. Response of the 4Pro/Ser98 to the VMAT inhibitor reserpine was lower than that of the 4Thr/98Thr. These findings suggest mechanisms for human VMAT1 links to schizophrenia.

Azetidine is a four-membered nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring that has recently received a great deal of attention as a molecular scaffold for the design and preparation of biologically active compounds. Structure-activity studies employing functionalized azetidines have led to the development of variety of drug molecules and clinical candidates encompassing a broad spectrum of biological activities. Herein, the synthesis a novel series of 3-aryl-3-arylmethoxyazetidines is described. Selected 3-aryl-3-arylmethoxyazetidines were evaluated for their binding affinity to multiple monoaminergic transporters for the potential treatment of methamphetamine addiction. It was discovered that this scaffold exhibits high binding affinity (nM) for both the serotonin and dopamine transporters. In addition, a new method was developed for the synthesis of 3,3-diarylazetidines. This new approach provides a facile and efficient method to synthesize a variety of diaryl heterocycles including 3,3-diarylazetidines, 3,3-diarylpyrrolidines, and 4,4-diarylpiperidines in moderate to good yields.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T14:35:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jessica Fontoura.pdf: 1793344 bytes, checksum: 7d26d97100cdf210c653767cf8a12d40 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disease. Depression and anxiety are common psychological disorders in patients suffering from PD. In the literature, there is much discussion about the probable mechanism leading to depression in PD and if it is associated with other psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety. It is still unclear which neurotransmitters and which neural pathways alterations could be related to the development of these non-motor symptoms. This study aimed to test how distinct monoamine neurotransmitters reuptake inhibitors interfere in the behavioral changes caused by damage to the nigrostriatal pathway with 6-OHDA in rats. To test this hypothesis, animals were subjected to stereotaxic surgery for infusion of 6-OHDA into their medial forebrain bundle (MFB) or their substantia nigra compacta (SN). These animals were divided in groups, one receiving bupropion (dopamine uptake blocker), fluoxetine (serotonin uptake blocker) or nortriptylin (noradrenalin uptake blocker), apart from a 6-OHDA with no blockers and a control group, which received 0,9% saline solution instead of 6-OHDA. At day 21 after surgery, behavioral testing started. Locomotor activity was evaluated by the open field test; depressive-like behavior by the forced swimming and the sucrose preference tests; and anxious behavior by the elevated plus maze test. The results were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, followed by post hoc Newman-Keuls post hoc test. The injury provoked by the infusion of the toxin in the SN was able to cause non-motor symptoms of PD, such as depression and anxiety, with no presentation of motor impairment by the animals, while injury in the FPM didn’t cause the same symptoms. On the SN lesioned animals, the administration of nortryptiline and bupropion were able to prevent from the 6-OHDA effect on the time spent on the open arm of the elevated plus maze test. On the same animals, bupropion, nortriptyline and fluoxetine were capable of prevent the reduction of the number of entrances to the center and the open arms of the same maze, and the reduction of swimming time and increase of immobility time caused by 6-OHDA on the forced swimming test. These data indicate that the SN lesion causes more behavior alteration than the MFB lesion in rats, also demonstrating that these motor alterations depend on the effect of the toxin on dopaminergic, noradrenergic and serotoninergic neurons. This contributes to the characterization of this model of behavioral alterations related to the nigrostriatal lesion. / A doença de Parkinson (DP) é a segunda doença neurodegenerativa mais frequente relacionada à idade. A depressão e a ansiedade são distúrbios psicológicos comuns em pacientes acometidos pela DP. Na literatura, muito se discute sobre o provável mecanismo que leva a depressão na DP e se está relacionada a outros sintomas psiquiátricos, como ansiedade. Ainda não está claro quais neurotransmissores ou quais vias neurais estão alteradas no desenvolvimento desses sintomas não-motores. Este estudo teve como objetivo testar como o bloqueio de recaptadores de neurotransmissores monoaminérgicos interfere nas alterações comportamentais provocadas pela lesão da via nigroestriatal com 6-OHDA em ratos. Para testar esta hipótese, os animais foram submetidos a cirurgia estereotáxica para infusão de 6-OHDA no feixe prosencefálico medial (FPM) ou na substância negra (SN). Estes animais foram divididos em grupos, sendo que um recebeu bupropiona (inibidor da recaptação de dopamina), fluoxetina (inibidor da recaptação de serotonina) ou nortriptilina (inibidor da recaptação de noradrenalina), além de um grupo sem inibidores e outro controle, com infusão de salina 0,9% no lugar da 6-OHDA. No 21º dia após a cirurgia, os testes comportamentais tiveram início. A atividade locomotora foi avaliada através do teste de campo aberto e o comportamento tipo depressivo e de ansiedade pelos testes da natação forçada, preferência à sacarose e labirinto em cruz elevado. Os resultados foram analisados por ANOVA de uma via seguida de teste post hoc Newman-Keuls. A lesão pela infusão da toxina na SN foi capaz de causar sintomas não-motores da DP, como depressão e ansiedade, sem que houvesse apresentação de prejuízo motor pelos animais, enquanto que a lesão no FPM não causou os mesmos sintomas. Nos animais lesados na SN, a administração de nortriptilina e a de bupropiona foram capazes de reverter o efeito da 6-OHDA no tempo de permanência no braço aberto do labirinto em cruz. Nesses mesmos animais, a bupropiona, a nortriptilina e a fluoxetina foram capazes de reverter os comportamentos de número de entradas no centro e no braço aberto desse labirinto, assim como de evitar a redução do tempo de natação e o aumento do tempo de imobilidade na natação forçada, também causados pela lesão com 6-OHDA. Esses dados indicam que a lesão na SN provoca mais alterações do que a do FPM em ratos, além de demonstrar que essas alterações dependem de efeitos dessa toxina em neurônios dopaminérgicos, noradrenérgicos e serotoninérgicos. Isto então contribui para a caracterização do modelo de alterações comportamentais ligados à lesão nigroestriatal.

Cooperative behaviour among unrelated individuals is an evolutionary paradox. Research suggests that an individual’s propensity to cooperate and its response to experiencing cooperation or defection from its social environment consistently varies among individuals and as a function of external factors. The biological and psychological underpinnings of such behavioural variation remain unknown; they can, however, provide more insight into the evolution and maintenance of cooperation among non-kin. This thesis explores the proximate effects of experiences of cooperation or defection from the social environment, as well as possible proximate drivers of cooperative behaviour, using the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata) as a study system. Firstly, the behavioural rules underpinning an individual’s decision to cooperate or not with unfamiliar individuals in the presence of specific or non-specific information were explored. When fish had information about their social partner’s cooperativeness, they behaved in a manner consistent with direct reciprocity, copying their partner’s last move. When paired with an ostensibly novel partner, a different, or at least additional, behavioural rule seemed to be employed. In order to help understand the drivers of individual variation in cooperative behaviour, phenotypic selection on cooperativeness was carried out over three filial generations, resulting in fish of high cooperativeness (HC) and low cooperativeness (LC). The divergence of individual cooperativeness observed between the two phenotypic selection lines suggests that cooperative behaviour in the context of predator inspection is at least in part heritable. Cooperative behaviour of F3 fish was found not to correlate with boldness or exploratory behaviour; HC and LC fish did, however, differ in some aspects of sociability and agonistic behaviour. Possible proximate neuromodulatory mechanisms underlying these differences in cooperativeness were also explored, focusing on brain expression patterns for the isotocin receptor (itr) gene in F3 females. HC females were found to have higher mid-section itr expression levels than LC females. Finally, I explored the effects of experiencing cooperation or defection on monoaminergic neurotransmission, which is thought to instantiate the effects of such experiences on the individual’s internal state. My findings suggest that experiencing cooperation or defection from the social environment affects internal state; this phenomenon may be crucial for the appropriate adjustment of the behavioural response to such experiences, and for the emergence of behavioural rules such as generalised reciprocity. Taken together these results suggest that neuromodulatory mechanisms are pivotal for the perception of stimuli from the social environment in the tested cooperative context and that variation in cooperative behaviour may be underpinned by individual differences in the structural properties of such systems. They also provide insight into how behavioural input may affect the behavioural response to such experiences, and ultimately how such mechanisms may lead to the evolution and maintenance of cooperation.

The plant Garcinia gardneriana (Planch. & Triana) Zappi, popularly known in Brazil as "bacupari" has traditionally been used for various types of inflammatory diseases and the evaluation of their chemical composition, mainly of leaves, has resulted in biflavonoids as major compounds. These phenolic compounds have shown anti-inflammatory activity validating the popular use of the plant. In this work was isolated from dried branches of Garcinia gardneriana the biflavonoids: morelloflavone, that is an naringenin covalently linked to luteolin, Gb-2a which is an naringenin linked to eriodictyol and Gb-2a- 7-O-glucose. These compounds have been previously evaluated in various activities such as anti-inflammatory and anti-antioxidants but there is no report of its activity as enzymatic inhibitors. However, the monomers that form it, have been evaluated in the inhibition of aromatase and antidepressant activity with positive outcome, which commonly are used MAO-A inhibitors. In the isolation process were also founded terpenoid compounds as lupeol and friedelin The isolated and purified biflavonoids were used to evaluate enzyme inhibition "in vitro" in monoamine oxidases (MAO-A MAO-B) and aromatase. The compounds showed a positive response even of IC50 5,47 μM and 1,35 μM for MAO-A inhibition of and aromatase enzyme respectively; discovering a way for a new proposal to link both enzymes for treatment of hormone-dependent cancers and anxiety and depression disorders. / La planta Garcinia gardneriana (Planch. & Triana) Zappi, popularmente conocida en Brasil como "bacupari" ha sido tradicionalmente usada para varios tipos de enfermedades inflamatorias y la evaluación de su composición química, principalmente de las hojas, ha resultado en biflavonoides como compuestos mayoritarios. Estos compuestos fenólicos han demostrado actividad anti-inflamatória validando el uso popular de la planta. En este trabajo se asilaron a partir de tallos secos de la Garcinia gardneriana los biflavonoides: moreloflavona, que consiste en una naringenina unida covalentemente a luteolina, Gb-2a que es un compuesto que consiste en una naringenina unida a un eriodictyol y Gb-2a-7-O-glucose. Estos compuestos ya han sido previamente evaluados en diversas actividades como anti inflamatorios y anti antioxidantes pero no se tiene reporte de su actividad como inhibidores enzimáticos. Sin embargo, los monomeros que los conforman han sido evaluados en la inhibición de la aromatasa y con resultados positivos como en la actividad antidepresiva, para la cual comúnmente son usados los inibidores de MAO-A. En el proceso de aislamiento también fueron encontrados compuestos terpenoides como lupeol y friedelina. Los biflavonoides aislados y purificados se usaron para evaluar la inhibición enzimática “in vitro” en monoaminooxidasas (MAO-A, MAO-B) y aromatasa. Los compuestos presentaron una respuesta positiva calculada con IC50 de hasta 5,47 μM y 1,35 μM para la inhibición de las enzimas MAO-A y aromatasa respectivamente, abriendo el camino a una nueva propuesta de relacionar estas dos enzimas para tratamiento de cánceres hormonodependientes y transtornos de ansiedad y depresión.

<p>The overall aim of this thesis was to explore gene-environmental (G*E) interactions in relation to deviant behaviour among 200 Swedish adolescents, with a focus on criminality, alcohol consumption and depressive symptoms. Those behaviours have been extensively investigated in relation to both psychosocial and biological risk factors. The biological markers used were the monoamine oxidase (MAO-A) and serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) gene polymorphisms. </p><p>The main findings indicated a considerable gene-environment interaction in relation to all outcome variables studied. Individuals with the long/short variant of the 5HTTLPR gene, in combination with unfavourable family relations, both consumed more alcohol and had 12-14 times higher risks of being classified as high alcohol consumers.</p><p>The MAO-A gene showed a G*E interaction related to criminality. Among boys, the short allele predicted an increased risk for criminality, whereas among girls, it was the long allele, if they lived in multi-family houses and/or had been maltreated, assaulted or sexually abused. </p><p>A G*E interaction in relation to depressive symptoms among both boys and girls was determined. Girls carrying the short 5HTTLPR allele in combination with psychosocial stress, presented elevated depressive symptoms, whereas among boys, the long 5HTTLPR allele was a source of depressive symptoms. In both sexes, there was a G*E interaction of a psychosocial risk index. Girls were more affected by poor family relations and boys by multi-family housing and separated parents.</p><p>In conclusion, the MAO-A and 5HTTLPR genotypes, in interaction with psychosocial adversity, are related to different deviant behaviours among adolescents. The direct effects of the genotypes needed to be adjusted for the psychosocial factors, whereas the psychosocial factors had direct relation to the outcome measures. There is also an indication of a different pattern in G*E interaction between boys and girls and that different psychosocial factors affect boys and girls differently.</p>

The overall aim of this thesis was to explore gene-environmental (G*E) interactions in relation to deviant behaviour among 200 Swedish adolescents, with a focus on criminality, alcohol consumption and depressive symptoms. Those behaviours have been extensively investigated in relation to both psychosocial and biological risk factors. The biological markers used were the monoamine oxidase (MAO-A) and serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) gene polymorphisms. The main findings indicated a considerable gene-environment interaction in relation to all outcome variables studied. Individuals with the long/short variant of the 5HTTLPR gene, in combination with unfavourable family relations, both consumed more alcohol and had 12-14 times higher risks of being classified as high alcohol consumers. The MAO-A gene showed a G*E interaction related to criminality. Among boys, the short allele predicted an increased risk for criminality, whereas among girls, it was the long allele, if they lived in multi-family houses and/or had been maltreated, assaulted or sexually abused. A G*E interaction in relation to depressive symptoms among both boys and girls was determined. Girls carrying the short 5HTTLPR allele in combination with psychosocial stress, presented elevated depressive symptoms, whereas among boys, the long 5HTTLPR allele was a source of depressive symptoms. In both sexes, there was a G*E interaction of a psychosocial risk index. Girls were more affected by poor family relations and boys by multi-family housing and separated parents. In conclusion, the MAO-A and 5HTTLPR genotypes, in interaction with psychosocial adversity, are related to different deviant behaviours among adolescents. The direct effects of the genotypes needed to be adjusted for the psychosocial factors, whereas the psychosocial factors had direct relation to the outcome measures. There is also an indication of a different pattern in G*E interaction between boys and girls and that different psychosocial factors affect boys and girls differently.