Panic disorder genetics

Olsson, M., Annerbrink, K., Westberg, L., et al. (2004) Angiotensin-related genes in patients with panic disorder. Am. J. Med. Genet. B. Neuropsychiatr. Genet., 127, 81-84. 

Flint J, Corley R, De Fries JC, Fulker DW, Gray JA, MUler S, Collins AC (1995) A simple genetic basis for a complex psychological trait in laboratory mice. Science 269 1432-1435 Fontana DJ, Commissaris RL (1988) Effects of acute and chronic imipramine administration on conflict behavior in the rat a potential animal model for the study of panic disorder Psychopharmacology (Berl) 95 147-150... 

Decker J, Catalano M, SyagaUo YV, Bosi M, Okladnova O, Di Bella D, Nothen MM, Maffei P, Franke P, Fritze J, Maier W, Propping P, Beckmann H, BeUodi L, Lesch KP (1999) Excess of high activity monoamine oxidase A gene promoter alleles in female patients with panic disorder. Hum Mol Genet 8 621-624... 

Hamilton SP, Slager SL, Heiman GA, Haghighi F, Klein DF, Hodge SE, Weissman MM, Fyer AJ, Knowles JA (2000b) No genetic linkage or association between a functional promoter polymorphism in the monoamine oxidase-A gene and panic disorder. Mol Psychiatry 5 465-466... 

Mendlewicz J, Papdimitriou G, Wilmotte J (1993) Family study of panic disorder comparison with generalized anxiety disorder, major depression and normal subjects. Psychiatr Genet 3 73-78... 

Steinlein OK, Deckert J, Nothen MM, Franke P, Maier W, Beckmann H, Propping P (1997) Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha 4 subunit (CHRNA4) and panic disorder an association study. Am J Med Genet 74 199-201 Sylvester CE, Hyde TS, Reichler RJ (1988) Clinical psychopathology among children of adults with panic disorder. In Barrett JE (ed) Relatives at Risk for Mental Disorder, vol 48. Raven Press, New York, pp 928-934... 

Anxiety reactivity to 35% CO2 inhalations has been reported not to be significantly influenced by clinical characteristics of the disorder such as baseline anxiety, frequency of panic attacks, severity of agoraphobia, duration of illness, and age (Perna et al. 1994). On the other hand, several studies suggest a relevant role of genetic factors in 35% CO2-induced panic attacks, and it has been concluded that C02-induced panic might be considered a phenotypic expression of a genetic vulnerability to panic disorder even before the clinical onset of panic disorder (e.g., Perna et al. 1995 Bellodi et al. 1999). 

If your relatives have panic disorder, then you potentially have a greater risk for developing the disorder. Studies of twins and families with panic disorder show that you have a 10% risk of developing panic disorder if your parents were diagnosed, compared with a 2% risk of developing the disorder if they were not. Thus, there is a strong genetic component to panic disorder. 

Much like panic disorder, there is a genetic link to social anxiety disorder that increases the risk of developing the disorder if your parents have developed it. 

Panic disorder affects up to 2% of the population, but less than one-third receive treatment. Panic disorder typically begins in late adolescence or early adulthood but can present in childhood. Onset is rare after age 45. Panic disorder is more prevalent in women, who have perhaps twice the rate in men. Genetic studies demonstrate a 15 to 20% rate of panic disorder in relatives of patients with panic disorder, including a 40% concordance rate for panic disorder in monozygotic twins. 

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