A preliminary linkage analysis of panic disorder at the University of Iowa found suggestive but inconclusive evidence of linkage to the alpha-haptoglobin locus on chromosome 16q22.
Taken as a whole, the present findings do not support the presence of a disease gene for panic disorder closely linked to the alpha-haptoglobin locus on chromosome 16q22.
This paper reviews phases of investigations which studied the validity of CCK4 as a panicogenic agent and research strategies for the study of panic disorder using CCK4 as an investigative tool.
The panic-inducing properties of pentagastrin are not specific for panic disorder patients, which might be indicative of a common neurobiological dysfunction in panic disorder and OCD at the level of CCK-B receptors.
An association between the CCK polymorphism and panic disordercannot be considered established due to the inconsistencies in the results noted above, but if the provisional association can be replicated, the findings are consistent with CCK(-36C-->T) being a disease-susceptibility allele that alone is neither necessary nor sufficient to cause panic disorder but that increases vulnerability by acting epistatically.
Levels of the enzyme N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase (NAG) and a mutation of cholecystokinin (CCK) gene appear to be independently associated with panic disorder.
Together with the observation that inhibition of monoamine oxidase A is clinically effective in the treatment of panic disorder these findings suggest that increased monoamine oxidase A activity is a risk factor for panic disorder in female patients.
No linkage between the 5-HTT polymorphism and panic disorder was observed in the multiplex families, using a variety of simulations for dominant and recessive models of inheritance.
Our genetic dissection of the CCK system thus far suggests that the CCK-B receptor gene variation may contribute to the neurobiology of panic disorder.
Also, untreated PD patients display an increased CCK-4-induced intracellular Ca2+ mobilization in T cells relative to treated PD, depression and schizophrenia.
MspI identifies a biallelic polymorphism in the promoter region of the alpha(2A)-adrenergic receptor gene.Clinical Genetics 51, 129-130.) in 114 healthy control subjects and 55 patients with panic disorders.
No significant linkage between the DRD4 or DAT polymorphisms and panic disorder was observed in the multiplex families, using a variety of simulations for dominant and recessive models of inheritance.