Recent Genetic Research
Researchers at NIMH have found a correlation between DGKH (diacylglycerol kinase eta) and bipolar disorder. The portion of the genome that encodes DGKH, a key protein in the lithium-sensitive phosphatidyl inositol pathway . A genome-wide association study implicates diacylglycerol kinase eta (DGKH) and several other genes in the etiology of bipolar disorder. The DGKH enzyme is related to the reactions of medications used in lithium therapy. The actual mechanism(s) and chemical effects of lithium in the brain with respect to mental illnesses it still not completely known. Researchers are developing better medications by looking at molecular compounds acting on the DGKH enzyme to control the rate at which it is produced. These therapies have the potential to control the rate and volume of enzyme production, potentially beneficial to sufferers of bipolar disorder or other related mental illnesses. This first genome-wide association study of bipolar disorder shows that several genes, each of modest effect, reproducibly influence disease risk.
Bipolar disorder may be a polygenic disease.
Bipolar disorder is considered to be a result of complex interactions between genes and environment. 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. Dizygotic twins have a 23% concordance rate. These concordance rates are not universally replicated in the literature, recent studies have shown rates of around 40% for monozygotic and <10% for dizygotic twins (see Kieseppa, 2004 and Cardno, 1999 ).
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. Inhibitors of the enzyme GSK-3β may mimic the therapeutic action of mood stabilizers like lithium.
Read more about this topic: Bipolar Disorders Research
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