Cited by 195Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorGenetic Associations and Epidemiology

Genetics of generalized anxiety disorder and related traits

Open access
Gottschalk, Michael G., Domschke, Katharina·2017·Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience

Abstract

This review serves as a systematic guide to the genetics of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and further focuses on anxiety-relevant endophenotypes, such as pathological worry fear of uncertainty, and neuroticism. We inspect clinical genetic evidence for the familialityl heritability of GAD and cross-disorder phenotypes based on family and twin studies. Recent advances of linkage studies, genome-wide association studies, and candidate gene studies (eg, 5-HTT, 5-HT1A, MAOA, BDNF) are outlined. Functional and structural neuroimaging and neurophysiological readouts relating to peripheral stress markers and psychophysiology are further integrated, building a multilevel disease framework. We explore etiologic factors in gene-environment interaction approaches investigating childhood trauma, environmental adversity, and stressful life events in relation to selected candidate genes (5-HTT, NPSR1, COMT, MAOA, CRHR1, RGS2), Additionally, the pharmacogenetics of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor/serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor treatment are summarized (5-HTT, 5-HT2A, COMT, CRHR1). Finally, GAD and trait anxiety research challenges and perspectives in the field of genetics, including epigenetics, are discussed.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.31887/dcns.2017.19.2/kdomschke

Cites

68 of 68 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Monozygotic twins and first-degree relatives also have an increased likelihood of developing psychotic, bipolar or common mental disorders.

    “Monozygotic twins 123-126 and first-degree relatives (depending on the number of probands) 127-130 also have an increased likelihood of developing these disorders.”
  • Clinical genetics have identified various susceptibility genes, including 5-HTT, 5-HT1A receptor, monoamine oxidase A, catechol-O-methyltransferase, phosphodiesterase 4B and BDNF, involved in specific anxiety-relevant phenotypes and/or in the aetiology and maintenance of pathological anxiety in a non-specific or disorder-dependent manner.

    “clinical genetics have been able to identify various susceptibility genes, including the 5-HT transporter 5-HTT, 5-HT 1A receptor, monoamine oxidase A, catechol-O-methyltransferase, phosphodiesterase 4B and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene, involved in specific anxiety-relevant phenotypes and/or in in the aetiology and maintenance of pathological anxiety in a non-specific or disor”
  • Altered DNA methylation patterns have been found in GAD, PD, and adolescents with anxiety disorder.

    “altered DNA methylation patterns in GAD (Gottschalk & Domschke, 2017), PD (Iurato et al., 2017) or adolescents with anxiety disorder (Bortoluzzi et al., 2018) have been found.”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Gottschalk, M. G., & Domschke, K.
Affiliations
  • Universitätsklinikum Würzburg (DE)
  • University of Freiburg (DE)
Corresponding author
Domschke, Katharina
Venue
Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience
Published
2017-06-30
Volume
19
Issue
2
Pages
159-168
ISSN
  • 1294-8322 (ISSN-L)
  • 1958-5969
OpenAlex
W2923926520
Cited by
194
References
67
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 6
FWCI
16.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (TRR‐58, SFB TRR 58)
  • Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (01EE1402A)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
Keywords
generalized anxiety disorder, endophenotypes, pathological worry, fear of uncertainty, neuroticism, heritability, familial aggregation, twin studies, family studies, linkage analysis, genome-wide association study, candidate genes, serotonin transporter, monoamine oxidase A, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, stress response, psychophysiology, gene-environment interaction, childhood trauma, life events, pharmacogenetics, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, epigenetics, trait anxiety
MeSH terms
Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Humans, Norepinephrine, Phenotype, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, Genome-Wide Association Study, Gene-Environment Interaction, Neuroimaging

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review