ABO Gene is Likely a Genetic Cause of Anxiety Diagnosis

Author(s): Donna K. Hobgood

Anxiety is a common and debilitating symptom without full understanding of genetic causes. ABO B allele frequency was seen associated with lower anxiety diagnosis prevalence while ABO A allele frequency with higher anxiety diagnosis prevalence in world population studies. Genetic analysis suggests that the association is causative. Dopamine beta hydroxylase (DBH) causes conversion of dopamine to norepinephrine and is related to anxiety as well as ABO blood groups through linkage disequilibrium (LD). Linkage dysequilibrium allelic analysis is consistent with ABO B in linkage with low activity DBH. High activity DB causes high norepinephrine:dopamine ratio. Anxiety diagnosis is associated with high norepinephrine. Low activity DBH causes lower norepinephrine and thus lower anxiety. Population studies were reviewed and showed lower anxiety prevalence in areas with high ABO B frequency. Mendelian randomization inferring causation from gene and proteins and diagnoses shows that ABO gene's association with anxiety diagnosis is causative since Asian populations have markedly high ABO B frequency as well as a markedly lower ABO A with essentially no ABO A2 frequency distinguishing Asia from Europe and Africa and the Middle East as well as a markedly lower anxiety diagnosis prevalence. While population stratification confounds, mendelian randomization may clarify causation instead of just association of ABO with anxiety diagnosis since DBH low activity marker rs 1611115T causes high dopamine to norepinephrine ratio and is thus a cause of lower anxiety in LD with ABO B frequency, an association with lower anxiety in population studies.