Martin Lindi, Hemmings Sian Megan Joanna, Kidd Martin, Seedat Soraya
Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2018 May 22;9(1):1472987. doi: 10.1080/20008198.2018.1472987. eCollection 2018.
: Anxiety disorders in youth are attributable to multiple causal mechanisms, comprising biological vulnerabilities, such as genetics and temperament, and unfavourable environmental influences, such as childhood maltreatment (CM). : A gene-environment (G x E) interaction study was conducted to determine the interactive effect of the BDNF polymorphism and CM to increase susceptibility to anxiety sensitivity (AS) in a sample of mixed race adolescents. : Participants ( 308, mean age = 15.8 years) who were all secondary school students and who completed measures for AS and CM were genotyped for the BDNF polymorphism. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to assess G x E influences on AS. Age and gender were included in the models as covariates as age was significantly associated with AS total score ( .05), and females had significantly higher AS scores than males ( .05). : A main effect of CM on AS was evident ( .05), however, no main effect of BDNF genotype on AS was observed ( .05). A non-significant G x E effect on AS was revealed ( .05). : Our results suggest that CM does not have a moderating role in the relationship between the BDNF genotype and the increased risk of anxiety-related phenotypes, such as AS. Given the exploratory nature of this study, findings require replication in larger samples and adjustment for population stratification to further explore the role of BDNF and CM on AS in mixed race adolescents.
青少年焦虑症可归因于多种因果机制，包括生物学易感性，如遗传和气质，以及不利的环境影响，如童年虐待（CM）。进行了一项基因-环境（G×E）相互作用研究，以确定脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）多态性与CM在混血青少年样本中增加焦虑敏感性（AS）易感性方面的交互作用。参与者（308名，平均年龄 = 15.8岁）均为中学生，完成了AS和CM测量，并对BDNF多态性进行了基因分型。进行分层多元回归分析以评估G×E对AS的影响。年龄和性别作为协变量纳入模型，因为年龄与AS总分显著相关（P <.05），且女性的AS得分显著高于男性（P <.05）。CM对AS的主效应明显（P <.05），然而，未观察到BDNF基因型对AS的主效应（P >.05）。未发现G×E对AS有显著影响（P >.05）。我们的结果表明，CM在BDNF基因型与焦虑相关表型（如AS）风险增加之间的关系中不具有调节作用。鉴于本研究的探索性质，研究结果需要在更大样本中重复验证，并对人群分层进行调整，以进一步探讨BDNF和CM在混血青少年AS中的作用。
