Preliminary evidence of association between EFHC2, a gene implicated in fear recognition, and harm avoidance

Genetic variation at the EF-hand domain containing 2 gene ( EFHC2) locus has been associated with fear recognition in Turner syndrome. The aim of this study was to examine whether EFHC2 variants are associated with non-syndromic anxiety-related traits [harm avoidance (HA) and behavioral inhibition (...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuroscience letters 2009-03, Vol.452 (1), p.84-86
Main Authors: Blaya, Carolina, Moorjani, Priya, Salum, Giovanni Abrahão, Gonçalves, Leonardo, Weiss, Lauren A., Leistner-Segal, Sandra, Manfro, Gisele G., Smoller, Jordan W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anxiety
Biological and medical sciences
Calcium-Binding Proteins - genetics
EFHC2
Fear - physiology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gene Frequency
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Genotype
Harm Reduction - physiology
Harm-avoidance
Humans
Inhibition, Psychological
Male
Middle Aged
Panic
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide - genetics
Recognition, Psychology - physiology
Somatoform Disorders - genetics
Somatoform Disorders - physiopathology
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
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Summary:Genetic variation at the EF-hand domain containing 2 gene ( EFHC2) locus has been associated with fear recognition in Turner syndrome. The aim of this study was to examine whether EFHC2 variants are associated with non-syndromic anxiety-related traits [harm avoidance (HA) and behavioral inhibition (BI)] and with panic disorder (PD). Our sample comprised 127 PD patients and 132 controls without psychiatric disorder. We genotyped nine SNPs within the EFHC2 locus and used PLINK to perform association analyses. An intronic SNP (rs1562875) was associated with HA (permuted p = 0.031) accounting alone for over 3% of variance in this trait. This same SNP was nominally, but not empirically, associated with BI ( r 2 = 0.022; nominal p = 0.022) and PD (OR = 2.64; nominal p = 0.009). The same association was found in a subsample of only females. In sum, we observed evidence of association between a variant in EFHC2, a gene previously associated with the processing of fear and social threat, and HA. Larger studies are warranted to confirm this association.
ISSN:0304-3940
1872-7972
DOI:10.1016/j.neulet.2009.01.036