Corticotropin-releasing factor binds with high affinity to CRF receptor 1 (CRFR1) and is implicated in stress-related mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.
It has been proposed that the common intronic CRHR1 SNP rs110402 is associated with anxiety and cortisol response patterns and plays a key role in vulnerability to certain mental disorders.
Therefore, the aim of this study was to understand the link between mbTBI and anxiety by examining the impact of mbTBI on the CRFR system in male and female mice. mbTBI increased anxiety-like behaviors in both males and females (p < 0.05).
These results suggest that CRF1 antagonists may hold promise as a potential therapy for preventing stress-induced anxiety and memory deficits in aged individuals.
We observed interactions between trait anxiety and rs7209436 and rs110402 in CRHR1 in association with baseline cortisol (p LRT = 0.0272 and p LRT = 0.0483, respectively).
Our data suggest that genetic variants in CRHR1 that associate with differential cortisol activation may also modulate levels of anxiety related to the stress of raising a child with FXS among women who carry an FMR1 premutation.
Two subtypes of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) receptor, CRF(1) and CRF(2), differentially modulate brain functions such as anxiety and memory.
The recent characterisation of several selective small-molecule CRHR1 antagonists offers new possibilities for the treatment of anxiety and depression.