The genetics of psychotic bipolar disorder

• Published in: Current psychiatry reports Vol. 10; no. 2; pp. 178 - 189
• Main Authors: Goes, Fernando S., Sanders, Lia L. O., Potash, James B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Current Science Inc 01.04.2008; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bipolar disorder; Bipolar Disorder - diagnosis; Bipolar Disorder - genetics; Chromosome Aberrations; Chromosome Mapping; Diseases in Twins - genetics; Epigenesis, Genetic - genetics; Gene Expression - genetics; Genetic Markers - genetics; Genetic Predisposition to Disease - genetics; Genetic Variation - genetics; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Phenotype; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide - genetics; Psychiatry; Psychosis; Psychotic Disorders - diagnosis; Psychotic Disorders - genetics; Risk Factors; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - diagnosis; Schizophrenia - genetics; Twin Studies as Topic; Schizophrenia; Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium; Bipolar Disorder; Schizoaffective Disorder; Psychotic Feature
• ISSN: 1523-3812; 1535-1645
• DOI: 10.1007/s11920-008-0030-5

Psychotic features, defined as delusions or hallucinations, commonly occur in bipolar disorder (BP) and may be indicative of a more homogeneous form of the illness, with possible etiologic ties to schizophrenia. Several studies have shown that psychotic features aggregate in bipolar families, and increased interest in the molecular genetics of psychotic BP is emerging. Although preliminary, linkage studies of psychotic BP show replicated evidence for suggestive genome-wide linkage to chromosomes 8p and 13q, which have been implicated in prior linkage studies of schizophrenia and BP. Association studies of psychotic BP and sub-types such as mood-incongruent psychotic BP have uncovered modest positive results for several candidate schizophrenia susceptibility genes, including dysbindin, DAOA/G30 , Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia-1, and neuregulin 1. These tentative results are consistent with the hypothesis that the subphenotype of psychotic BP may represent a clinical manifestation of “overlap” genes between schizophrenia and mood disorder syndromes.