Association Study of A2a Adenosine Receptor Gene Polymorphism in Panic Disorder

Kim, Won; Woo, Jong Min; Bae, Jeong Hoon; Choi, Young Hee

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The adenosine A2a receptor (A2aAR) is thought to be implicated in the pathogenesis of panic disorder because caffeine, a potent antagonist for A2aAR, can precipitate panic attacks, and because disruption of the A2aAR gene increses anxiety-behaviors in mice. Recent studies demonstrated that the A2aAR 1976C>T genetic polymorphism confers susceptibility to panic disorder in Caucasian, though not in Asian. The present study tested the hypothesis that the A2aAR 1976C>T genetic variant confers susceptibility to panic disorder in Korean.
METHODS
258 patients with panic disorder and 117 healthy controls participated in this study. Genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction-based method.
RESULTS
Genotype (p=0.389) and allele (p=0.655) distribution of adenosine A2a receptor (A2aAR) polymorphism patients with panic disorder was not significantly different from those of the controls. However, panic disorder with major depressive disorder showed significant association with 1976C allele (p=0.008) and A2aAR 1976C>T genotype (p=0.008).
CONCLUSION
This study suggested that the adenosine 1976C>T polymorphism may have a potential role for susceptibility to panic disrder with major depressive disorder in the Korean population. This calls for consecutive studies in order to understand the association of A2aAR polymorphism and various psychiatric disorders.