Chromosomal Regions Linked to Bipolar Disorder
Eight chromosomal regions have been identified that may predispose people to early onset bipolar affective disorder. In addition, an increased prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis* has been found in bipolar patients, offspring of parents with bipolar disorder, and twin pairs in which at least one twin is affected with bipolar disorder. An observation of the two diseases clustering in families suggests a shared genetic component. (EurekAlert, June 16, 2005)
From Wikipedia:
Bipolar disorder is considered to be primarily a genetically caused disorder. The monozygotic concordance rate for the disorder is 70%. This means that if a person has the disorder, an identical twin has a 70% likelihood of having the disorder as well. Relatives of persons with Bipolar Disorder also have an increased incidence of having unipolar depression.
In 2003, a group of American and Canadian researchers published a paper that used gene linkage techniques to identify a mutation in the GRK3 gene as a possible cause of up to 10% of cases of bipolar disorder. This gene is associated with a kinase enzyme called G protein receptor kinase 3, which appears to be involved in dopamine metabolism, and may provide a possible target for new drugs for bipolar disorder.
For anyone interested in understanding more about bipolar disorder–both the personal and the medical–the following books by Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison
*ETA: Maybe the connection between bipolar disorder and autoimmune thyroiditis is similar to the association observed between depression and allergies.
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POSTED IN: Genetics of Disease
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