PMID: 16529167Mar 15, 2006Paper

A search for psychobiological determinants of anxiety disorders

Annales Academiae Medicae Stetinensis
Anna Hajduk

Abstract

The aim of the study was to search for measurable, objective, and reproducible biological factors such as gene polymorphisms that increase the risk of an anxiety disorder, distinguishing personality traits predisposing to the anxiety disorder. The material comprised 103 patients fulfilling criteria of an anxiety disorder (panic disorders, generalized anxiety disorders, phobic disorders) and a control group of 100 subjects matched for age and free of neuropsychiaric disease. The genes studied were: COMT (catechol-oxygen-methyltransferase), MAO-A (monoamine oxidase A), and 5-HTT-LPR (serotonine transporter). Isolation of human genomic DNA, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and electrophoresis on agarose gel were part of the study protocol. Anxiety disorders were diagnosed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). The following psychometric tests were applied: TCI (R. Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory), R. B. Cattell's Inventory, C. D. Spielberger's questionnaire, and Beck's depression scale. There were no associations of COMT, MAO-A, and 5-HTT-LPR gene polymorphisms with anxiety disorders in the study and control groups. A higher level of anxiety as a "status" and as a "trait" were revealed in both...Continue Reading

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Anxiety Disorders

Discover the latest research on anxiety disorders including agoraphobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder here.