Lack of association between brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene Val66Met polymorphisms and panic disorder in Korean population

Objective: Several lines of evidence suggest that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a role in the pathophysiology of anxiety. We analyzed the association of the BDNF gene val66met polymorphism, in the coding region of exon XIIIA in chromosome 11q and panic disorder (PD). Methods: One hundred and six patients with PD and 160 control subjects were tested for the BDNF (val66met) polymorphism. A clinical interview and MINI international neuropsychiatric interview were conducted by trained psychiatrists to diagnose panic disorder according to DSM-IV. Information about the symptomatic characteristics of panic disorder was also gathered by measuring various clinical scales (Hamilton anxiety rating scale, Beck anxiety inventory, Spielberg State-Trait Anxiety inventory and Anxiety sensitivity index). Results: There were no significant differences in the frequencies of the genotypes (χ²=4.16, df=2, p=0.13), alleles (χ²=0.79, df=1, p=0.37) or allele (Met) carriers (χ²=0.28, df=1, p=0.59) between the patients and controls. In addition, in comparing the severity of panic disorder with the genotypes of the BDNF gene, we could not find any significant differences between the genotypes. Conclusions: These results suggest that BDNF (val66met) polymorphisms do not play a major role in the susceptibility to or severity of panic disorder in our Korean population.