Altogether, the present findings suggested that the ADORA2A gene and the interaction of ADORA2A and DRD2 genes may play a role in anxiety disorders in children and adolescents with ADHD.
Here, it was investigated whether the adenosine 2 A receptor gene (ADORA2A) 1976T/C (rs5751876) variant - previously associated with anxiety disorders and anxiety-related phenotypes as well as general attentional efficiency -was involved in the regulation of this network.
The present results point to an impaired ability to selectively process very early information and to gate irrelevant sensory information, respectively, in female ADORA2A 1976TT homozygotes in response to caffeine, providing further evidence for the adenosinergic system to be involved in the pathogenesis of anxiety.
Our data provide further support for an important role of ADORA2A variants in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders and anxious personality reflecting their potential as basic susceptibility factors.
Apart from the almost completely linked ADORA2A SNP rs3761422, no other of eight ADORA2A and seven ADORA1 SNPs studied were found to be clearly associated with effects of caffeine on anxiety, alertness, or headache.