Largest genome-wide study of bipolar disorder identifies 36 genes linked to the disorder

A study conducted by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium has identified 36 genes linked to bipolar disorder which may help researchers to develop new drugs for the condition.

This is the latest genome-wide association study (GWAS) of bipolar disorder involving multiple research centres worldwide, including Cardiff University’s Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics (CNGG).

It is also the largest genome-wide study of bipolar disorder to date and has analysed DNA strands from more than 2.9 million participants, with over 158,000 who experience bipolar disorder.

The paper, entitled ‘Genomics yields biological and phenotypic insights into bipolar disorder’ used data from clinical, community and self-reported bipolar disorder cohorts and has several implications both for the treatment of bipolar disorder and data collection in future bipolar disorder studies.

The study has identified 298 regions of the genome which contain genetic variants increasing risk for bipolar disorder. That is four times the number of regions identified in previous studies. Cross referencing a range of methods led to the identification of 36 genes which are suspected to be relevant to bipolar disorder.

The genetic signals highlight the role of specific brain cell types and regions within bipolar disorder, such as the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, which may help us to understand more about the underlying biology of the condition.

Due to the diversity of its sample data, it’s also the first study to identify these regions in multiple ancestries, including a new region associated with increased risk for bipolar disorder specifically within the East Asian population.

Findings also suggested that researchers need to be mindful of data gathering methods when analysing their data. Professor Di Florio added: “We found that genetic signals in part changed according to the way participants were recruited into the studies. For example, if they had been recruited in clinics, through online surveys or were part of large biobanks.” Researchers suggest that this may be driven by differences in the prevalence of different bipolar disorder subtypes within the different types of samples.

Professor Di Florio and the team would like to thank all participants for their contributions to this study.

The paper entitled, “Genomics yields biological and phenotypic insights into bipolar disorder,” can be read in Nature .

The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium has over 1,700 researchers in over 65 countries. Find out more.