Anxiety Genetics: Progress and New Directions

描述(申请人提供)：焦虑症是最常见的精神疾病，具有中等的遗传成分，并已适合优秀的动物模型。在理解基因组水平上的遗传影响方面已经取得了一定的进展。我们正在提议一项会议拨款，为焦虑症遗传学研究人员提供一个机会来调查该领域的现状，并为基因研究发展合作努力。感兴趣的障碍包括恐慌症、特殊恐惧症、社交焦虑症、广泛性焦虑症和创伤后应激障碍。强迫症不包括在这里，因为现有的会议机制只关注强迫症。据估计，DSM-IV焦虑症的终生发病率为28.8%，平均发病年龄为11岁。上述疾病的终生患病率从4.7%到12.5%不等，所有这些在女性中都更常见。研究表明，焦虑症在家庭中一直表现出聚集性，这种聚集性的来源可能是遗传因素，双胞胎研究表明，基因对焦虑症的影响很大。遗传学研究，无论是家系的连锁分析，还是病例对照样本的候选基因研究，现在都提供了一些证据，表明特定的染色体区域或基因可能与焦虑症的易感性有关。其他复杂疾病的经验现在表明，个别研究人员的样本可能不足以发现与焦虑相关的基因变异，显然，将多个样本结合在一起的合作研究将有更高的成功机会。同样，需要协调大样本，以便实地验证现有样本中报告的调查结果。R13机制将用于解决汇集协作数据集和在不同调查人员之间共享数据的问题。拟议中的会议还将用于总结当前的知识，并提供焦虑症遗传学以外的领先人类遗传学家的全体演讲。来自五大洲9个国家的至少25名研究人员表示有兴趣参与，大多数人还自愿发表演讲，推动研讨会，并在指导委员会任职。会议的大部分时间将集中在研讨会上，这些研讨会旨在确定潜在的合作项目，并应对这些项目带来的挑战和机遇。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric conditions, have a moderate genetic component, and have lent themselves to excellent animal models. Modest progress has been made in understanding the genetic influence at the genomic level. We are proposing a conference grant to provide an opportunity for anxiety disorder genetics investigators to survey the current status of the field and to develop collaborative efforts for genetic studies. The disorders of interest include panic disorder, specific phobia, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Obsessive compulsive disorder is not included here as there is an existing conference mechanism focused solely on that disorder. The lifetime incidence of DSM-IV anxiety disorders is estimated to be 28.8%, with an average age of onset of eleven years of age. Lifetime prevalence for the disorders mentioned above range from 4.7% to 12.5%, with all being more common in females. Research has shown that anxiety disorders consistently exhibit aggregation in families, and that the source of this aggregation is likely due to genetic factors, with twin studies suggesting a strong contribution from genes. Genetic studies, both linkage analyses in pedigrees and candidate gene studies in case-control samples now provide some evidence that specific chromosomal regions or genes might contribute to the susceptibility to anxiety disorders. Experience with other complex disorders now demonstrate that the samples of individual investigators may be insufficient for discovering anxiety-related genetic variation, and it is clear collaborative studies that combine many samples will have higher chance of success. Similarly, large samples will need to be coordinated for the field to validate reported findings in the extant samples. The R13 mechanism will be used to address the issues of assembling collaborative datasets and sharing data among diverse investigators. The proposed meeting will also serve to summarize current knowledge, and provide plenary talks from leading human geneticists outside of anxiety disorder genetics. At least 25 researchers from nine countries on five continents have expressed interest in participating, with most also volunteering to give presentations, facilitate workshops, and serve on the Steering Committee. A substantial portion of the meeting will be focused on workshops designed to identify potential collaborative projects, and to address the challenges and opportunities they provide.