Clinical association between asthma and anxiety is unrelated to genetic risk factors.

Abstract

Although asthma and anxiety are clinically associated, the genetic basis of their co-occurrence has not been established. This study investigates whether the two conditions share underlying genetic risk factors, providing a foundation for understanding their biological interplay. Pediatric patients diagnosed with anxiety or asthma (n = 2168; 1085 females and 1083 males) were compared to controls without either condition (n = 1960; 926 females and 1034 males). To account for potential sex differences, polygenic risk scores (PRS) were analyzed separately for females and males. Cross-examination revealed that asthma patients do not have increased anxiety PRS, nor do anxiety patients have increased asthma PRS. No significant correlation was found between PRS in the control samples for either females (r = 0.008, p = 0.797) or males (r = -0.026, p = 0.396). This study demonstrates that asthma and anxiety do not share significant genetic risk factors, suggesting their clinical association may be driven by environmental factors, psychosomatic interactions, or gene-environment interactions. Sex-specific genetic differences indicate distinct factors influencing the co-occurrence of these conditions in males and females.