Dokument-ID Dokumenttyp Verfasser/Autoren Herausgeber Haupttitel Abstract Auflage Verlagsort Verlag Erscheinungsjahr Seitenzahl Schriftenreihe Titel Schriftenreihe Bandzahl ISBN Quelle der Hochschulschrift Konferenzname Quelle:Titel Quelle:Jahrgang Quelle:Heftnummer Quelle:Erste Seite Quelle:Letzte Seite URN DOI Abteilungen OPUS4-16442 Wissenschaftlicher Artikel Ziegler, C.; Richter, J.; Mahr, M.; Gajewska, A.; Schiele, M.A.; Gehrmann, A.; Schmidt, B.; Lesch, K.-P.; Lang, T.; Helbig-Lang, S.; Pauli, P.; Kircher, T.; Reif, A.; Rief, W.; Vossbeck-Elsebusch, A.N.; Arolt, V.; Wittchen, H.-U.; Hamm, A.O.; Deckert, J.; Domschke, K. MAOA gene hypomethylation in panic disorder-reversibility of an epigenetic risk pattern by psychotherapy Epigenetic signatures such as methylation of the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene have been found to be altered in panic disorder (PD). Hypothesizing temporal plasticity of epigenetic processes as a mechanism of successful fear extinction, the present psychotherapy-epigenetic study for we believe the first time investigated MAOA methylation changes during the course of exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in PD. MAOA methylation was compared between N=28 female Caucasian PD patients (discovery sample) and N=28 age- and sex-matched healthy controls via direct sequencing of sodium bisulfite-treated DNA extracted from blood cells. MAOA methylation was furthermore analyzed at baseline (T0) and after a 6-week CBT (T1) in the discovery sample parallelized by a waiting time in healthy controls, as well as in an independent sample of female PD patients (N=20). Patients exhibited lower MAOA methylation than healthy controls (P<0.001), and baseline PD severity correlated negatively with MAOA methylation (P=0.01). In the discovery sample, MAOA methylation increased up to the level of healthy controls along with CBT response (number of panic attacks; T0-T1: +3.37±2.17%), while non-responders further decreased in methylation (-2.00±1.28%; P=0.001). In the replication sample, increases in MAOA methylation correlated with agoraphobic symptom reduction after CBT (P=0.02-0.03). The present results support previous evidence for MAOA hypomethylation as a PD risk marker and suggest reversibility of MAOA hypomethylation as a potential epigenetic correlate of response to CBT. The emerging notion of epigenetic signatures as a mechanism of action of psychotherapeutic interventions may promote epigenetic patterns as biomarkers of lasting extinction effects. 2016 e773 Translational Psychiatry 6 urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-164422 10.1038/tp.2016.41 Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie