Norepinephrine transporter gene (NET) variants in patients with panic disorder

• Published in: Neuroscience letters 2002-11, Vol.333 (1), p.41-44
• Main Authors: Sand, P.G., Mori, T., Godau, C., Stöber, G., Flachenecker, P., Franke, P., Nöthen, M.M., Fritze, J., Maier, W., Lesch, K.-P., Riederer, P., Beckmann, H., Deckert, J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agoraphobia; Amino Acid Substitution - genetics; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Catecholamines; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Frequency - genetics; Genetic Variation - genetics; Humans; Male; Neurotransmission and behavior; Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; Norepinephrine transporter; Panic disorder; Panic Disorder - genetics; Patients; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Symporters - genetics
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3940(02)00984-9

Several lines of evidence suggest that catecholamines, especially norepinephrine, are implicated in the etiology and/or symptomatology of panic disorder (PD). At the cellular level, functional noradrenergic neurotransmission depends on synaptic reuptake of norepinephrine as mediated by the norepinephrine transporter (NET). A pharmacological target of agents with an established anti-panic efficacy, e.g. tricyclic antidepressants, the NET is of particular interest in PD. We investigated the NET gene for the presence of 6 naturally occurring exonic sequence variants, 5 of which give rise to amino acid substitutions (Val69Ile, Thr99Ile, Val245Ile, Val449Ile and Gly478Ser) in a population of 87 patients with PD and 89 healthy controls. Except for a silent substitution (G1287A), overall frequencies of variant alleles were low (≤0.016). None of the variants under study was found to be associated with PD regardless of an additional diagnosis of agoraphobia.