Anxiety Genetics: Progress and New Directions

描述（由申请人提供）：焦虑症是最常见的精神疾病，具有中等程度的遗传成分，并已被用于优秀的动物模型。在基因组水平上对遗传影响的理解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，以调查该领域的现状，并开展遗传学研究的合作。感兴趣的障碍包括惊恐障碍、特定恐惧症、社交焦虑障碍、广泛性焦虑障碍和创伤后应激障碍。这里不包括强迫症，因为有一个现有的会议机制专门针对这种疾病。DSM-IV焦虑症的终生发病率估计为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，在女性中更为常见。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由于遗传因素，双胞胎研究表明基因在很大程度上起了作用。遗传研究，包括家谱的连锁分析和病例对照样本的候选基因研究，现在提供了一些证据，表明特定的染色体区域或基因可能导致对焦虑症的易感性。研究其他复杂疾病的经验表明，单个研究人员的样本可能不足以发现与焦虑相关的遗传变异，很明显，将许多样本结合起来的合作研究将有更高的成功机会。同样，需要对大量样本进行协调，以便实地验证现有样本中报告的发现。R13机制将用于解决在不同研究者之间组装协作数据集和共享数据的问题。拟议的会议还将总结当前的知识，并提供焦虑障碍遗传学以外的主要人类遗传学家的全体会议。来自五大洲9个国家的至少25名研究人员表示有兴趣参加，其中大多数人还自愿做报告、促进研讨会和在指导委员会任职。会议的很大一部分将集中在旨在确定潜在合作项目的研讨会上，并解决它们提供的挑战和机遇。

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.