Table 3.

Main findings from human studies supporting the role of FAAH as a biomarker in psychiatric disorders.

FAAH
Subjects/Diagnosis	Sample	Method	Measurement	Results	References
Healthy controls	Blood	DNA Genotyping	FAAH rs324420 (C385A) polymorphism	= anxiety-related self-reports in A-allele and C/C genotypes	Gärtner et al. (171)
PING study participants	Saliva	DNA Genotyping	FAAH rs324420 (C385A) polymorphism	↓ anxiety level in A-allele adolescent carriers	Gee et al. (172)
Project FRONTIER participants	Blood	DNA Genotyping	FAAH rs324420 (C385A) & CRFR1 minor alleles polymorphisms	↑ anxiety level in FAAH A-allele and CRFR1 non-minors alleles carriers	Harris et al. (173)
Duke Neurogenetics Study (DNS) participants	Saliva	DNA Genotyping	FAAH rs324420 (C385A) and CRHR1 rs110402 polymorphisms	↑ risk for AD in FAAH A-allele and CRHR1 A-allele carriers	Demers et al. (174)
General population	Buccal mucosa	DNA Genotyping	FAAH rs324420 (C385A) polymorphism	↑ risk for AD/DD in A-allele carriers with childhood trauma	Lazary et al. (175)
General population	Buccal mucosa	DNA Genotyping	FAAH rs324420 (C385A) polymorphism	↑ risk for AD/DD in A-allele carriers with childhood trauma	Lazary et al. (176)
DD/BD	Blood	DNA Genotyping	FAAH rs324420 (C385A) polymorphism	↑ frequency AC genotype carriers	Monteleone et al. (232)
SCZ	PMBT – prefrontal cortex	Enzymatic assay – scintillation counting	FAAH activity	↑ FAAH activity	Muguruza et al. (273)
SCZ	Blood	Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)	FAAH relative gene expression	↓ FAAH with clinical remission	De Marchi et al. (295)
BD	Blood	DNA Genotyping	FAAH rs324420 (C385A) polymorphism	↑ frequency AC genotype carriers	Monteleone et al. (232)

AD, anxiety disorder; DD, depressive disorder; SCZ, schizophrenia; BD, bipolar disorder; PMBT, post-mortem brain tissue; FAAH, fatty acid amido hydrolase.

↓: decrease and ↑: increase.