58 genetic variants, not single gene, shape anxiety risk: Study

A study identifies 58 genetic variants influencing anxiety risk, highlighting genetic overlap with depression, PTSD, and related traits.

Researchers have found 58 genetic variants linked to an increased risk of anxiety, suggesting that the disorder is not driven by a "single anxiety gene".

The researchers, led by those from Texas A&M University in the U.S., said that anxiety disorders are influenced by genetic variants from across the human genome, with each variant inherited subtly changing an individual's genetic risk for developing anxiety-related conditions.

The findings are consistent with the genetic architecture for common medical conditions like hypertension and clinical depression, they said.

The 58 genetic variants analysed in the study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, pointed to 66 genes that the researchers said appear to influence how the brain responds to stress and threat.

The team also found a strong genetic overlap between anxiety disorders and related traits including depression, neuroticism, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide attempts -- the results reinforced decades of clinical observations, they said.

"Anxiety disorders and their underlying sources of genetic risk have been understudied compared to other psychiatric conditions, so this study substantially advances this critical knowledge," senior author Jack Hettema, professor from the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Texas A&M University, said.