Abstract
Heterogeneous life events (LE) precede the onset of-and potentially increase the susceptibility to-panic disorder (PD). It remains unknown whether LE can act as moderators in the context of gene-by-environment interactions (G×E) that alter the susceptibility to PD and the related trait of CO2 sensitivity, nor it is known whether such moderation may depend on occurrence of events at different epochs in life. In 712 general population twins we analyzed by Maximum Likelihood analyses of ordinal data whether life (major- and stressful) events moderate the genetic risk for PD and CO2 sensitivity, as indexed by the 35% CO2/65% O2 challenge. For CO2 sensitivity, best-fitting models encompassed both additive and interactional effects that increased linearly with the cumulative number and severity (SEV) of events in lifetime. By analyzing the moderation effect of cumulative SEV separately for events that had occurred in adulthood (between age 18 and 37) or during childhood-adolescence (before the 18th birthday), we found evidence of G×E only within the childhood-adolescence window of risk, although twins had rated the childhood-adolescence events as significantly (P=0.001) less severe than those having occurred during adulthood. For PD, all interactional terms could be dropped without significant worsening of the models' fit. Consistently with a diathesis-stress model, LE appear to act as moderators of the genetic variance for CO2 sensitivity. Childhood-adolescence appears to constitute a sensitive period to the action of events that concur to alter the susceptibility to this panic-related trait.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 79-88 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | American Journal of Medical Genetics - Neuropsychiatric Genetics |
| Volume | 156 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2011 |
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Keywords
- Childhood
- Endophenotype
- Genetics
- Twins
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Genetics(clinical)
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
- Medicine(all)
Cite this
Gene-environment interactions in panic disorder and CO2 sensitivity : Effects of events occurring early in life. / Spatola, Chiara A M; Scaini, Simona; Pesenti-Gritti, Paola; Medland, Sarah E.; Moruzzi, Sara; Ogliari, Anna; Tambs, Kristian; Battaglia, Marco.
In: American Journal of Medical Genetics - Neuropsychiatric Genetics, Vol. 156, No. 1, 01.2011, p. 79-88.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Gene-environment interactions in panic disorder and CO2 sensitivity
T2 - Effects of events occurring early in life
AU - Spatola, Chiara A M
AU - Scaini, Simona
AU - Pesenti-Gritti, Paola
AU - Medland, Sarah E.
AU - Moruzzi, Sara
AU - Ogliari, Anna
AU - Tambs, Kristian
AU - Battaglia, Marco
PY - 2011/1
Y1 - 2011/1
N2 - Heterogeneous life events (LE) precede the onset of-and potentially increase the susceptibility to-panic disorder (PD). It remains unknown whether LE can act as moderators in the context of gene-by-environment interactions (G×E) that alter the susceptibility to PD and the related trait of CO2 sensitivity, nor it is known whether such moderation may depend on occurrence of events at different epochs in life. In 712 general population twins we analyzed by Maximum Likelihood analyses of ordinal data whether life (major- and stressful) events moderate the genetic risk for PD and CO2 sensitivity, as indexed by the 35% CO2/65% O2 challenge. For CO2 sensitivity, best-fitting models encompassed both additive and interactional effects that increased linearly with the cumulative number and severity (SEV) of events in lifetime. By analyzing the moderation effect of cumulative SEV separately for events that had occurred in adulthood (between age 18 and 37) or during childhood-adolescence (before the 18th birthday), we found evidence of G×E only within the childhood-adolescence window of risk, although twins had rated the childhood-adolescence events as significantly (P=0.001) less severe than those having occurred during adulthood. For PD, all interactional terms could be dropped without significant worsening of the models' fit. Consistently with a diathesis-stress model, LE appear to act as moderators of the genetic variance for CO2 sensitivity. Childhood-adolescence appears to constitute a sensitive period to the action of events that concur to alter the susceptibility to this panic-related trait.
AB - Heterogeneous life events (LE) precede the onset of-and potentially increase the susceptibility to-panic disorder (PD). It remains unknown whether LE can act as moderators in the context of gene-by-environment interactions (G×E) that alter the susceptibility to PD and the related trait of CO2 sensitivity, nor it is known whether such moderation may depend on occurrence of events at different epochs in life. In 712 general population twins we analyzed by Maximum Likelihood analyses of ordinal data whether life (major- and stressful) events moderate the genetic risk for PD and CO2 sensitivity, as indexed by the 35% CO2/65% O2 challenge. For CO2 sensitivity, best-fitting models encompassed both additive and interactional effects that increased linearly with the cumulative number and severity (SEV) of events in lifetime. By analyzing the moderation effect of cumulative SEV separately for events that had occurred in adulthood (between age 18 and 37) or during childhood-adolescence (before the 18th birthday), we found evidence of G×E only within the childhood-adolescence window of risk, although twins had rated the childhood-adolescence events as significantly (P=0.001) less severe than those having occurred during adulthood. For PD, all interactional terms could be dropped without significant worsening of the models' fit. Consistently with a diathesis-stress model, LE appear to act as moderators of the genetic variance for CO2 sensitivity. Childhood-adolescence appears to constitute a sensitive period to the action of events that concur to alter the susceptibility to this panic-related trait.
KW - Childhood
KW - Endophenotype
KW - Genetics
KW - Twins
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79953650016&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79953650016&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/ajmg.b.31144
DO - 10.1002/ajmg.b.31144
M3 - Article
C2 - 21184587
AN - SCOPUS:79953650016
VL - 156
SP - 79
EP - 88
JO - American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics
JF - American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics
SN - 1552-4841
IS - 1
ER -