Bipolar Disord 2002;4 Suppl 1:77-80; in press
Subtraction Libraries for the Molecular Characterization of
Gene-Environmental Interactions in Bipolar Disorder
Yolken RH.
OBJECTIVES: We endeavored to identify gene-environmental
interactions related to bipolar disorder.
METHODS: We generated subtraction libraries from the frontal cortex
of brains obtained postmortem from individuals with bipolar disorder and age-
and sex-matched unaffected controls.
RESULTS: There are a number of RNA transcripts which are apparently
up-regulated or down-regulated in the frontal cortex of individuals with bipolar
disorder as compared with the controls. Many of these transcripts are
involved in processes crucial to brain function. Several are also related
to pathways involved in infections or the inflammatory response in environmental
stimuli.
CONCLUSIONS: Bipolar disorder may involve a complex set of interactions
between genes which affect brain function and infections which control the
expression of these genes.