ABSTRACT
Panic disorder is characterized by spontaneous and recurrent panic attacks, often accompanied by agoraphobia. The results of family, twin, and segregation studies suggest a genetic role in the etiology of the illness. We have genotyped up to 23 families that have a high density of panic disorder with 540 microsatellite DNA markers in a first-pass genomic screen. The thirteen best families (ELOD > 6.0 under the dominant genetic model) have been genotyped with an ordered set of markers encompassing all the autosomes, at an average marker density of 11 cM. Over 110,000 genotypes have been generated on the whole set of families, and the data have been analyzed under both a dominant and a recessive model, and with the program SIBPAIR. No lod scores exceed 2.0 for either parametric model. Two markers give lod scores over 1.0 under the dominant model (chromosomes 1p and 20p), and four do under the recessive model (7p, 17p, 20q, and X/Y). One of these (20p) may be particularly promising. Analysis with SIBPAIR yielded P values equivalent to a lod score of 1.0 or greater (i.e., P < .016, one-sided, uncorrected for multiple tests) for 11 marker loci (2, 7p, 8p, 8q, 9p, 11q, 12q, 16p, 20p and 20q).
Subject(s)
Panic Disorder/genetics , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Chromosomes, Human, Pair 20 , Family , Female , Genes, Dominant , Genes, Recessive , Genetic Linkage , Genetic Markers , Genetic Testing , Genotype , Humans , Lod Score , Male , Microsatellite Repeats , Middle Aged , Panic Disorder/epidemiologyABSTRACT
We have established conditions for the quantitation of DNA hybridization by "reading" dot blot autoradiographs with a microwell plate densitometer. This method is more convenient, as accurate, and more sensitive than counting the spots in a liquid scintillation counter.
