The ACE I/D polymorphism was genotyped in a sample of 102 German patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia as well as a healthy German control group matched with regard to age and sex (n = 102).
A synonymous (Gly-426-Gly) NPY Y5 coding variant (rs11946004) as well as haplotypes including rs11946004 and an intronic NPY Y5 variant (rs11724320) were significantly associated with panic disorder (P = 0.027), with the effect originating from the subgroup of female patients (P = 0.030), particularly with concurrent agoraphobia (P = 0.002-0.019).
We found, however, a prominent association between severity of panic- and agoraphobia symptoms and an exonic SNP (rs3817190) in the CaMKKb gene and a trend for association with an exonic SNP in P2RX7 (rs1718119) with severity scores in the panic- and agoraphobia scale.
We found, however, a prominent association between severity of panic- and agoraphobia symptoms and an exonic SNP (rs3817190) in the CaMKKb gene and a trend for association with an exonic SNP in P2RX7 (rs1718119) with severity scores in the panic- and agoraphobia scale.
The results of this first study of TPH2 in panic disorder argue against an importance of allelic variation of TPH2 in the pathogenesis of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia.
However, a higher frequency of longer allele genotypes of the MAOA promoter region was observed in female PD patients with agoraphobia than in female controls (p = 0.016).
While our data do not support a major function of the NET gene in the development of panic disorder, it may play a role in the subgroup of panic disorder without agoraphobia.
Furthermore, no association was demonstrated between this BDNF polymorphism and either mitral valve prolapse or agoraphobia in panic disorder patients.