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Findings from bipolar disorder genome-wide association studies replicate in a Finnish bipolar family-cohort

Molecular Psychiatry volume 14, pages 351–353 (2009)Cite this article

Recently, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have yielded replicable findings and confirmed previous candidate genes as important factors in non-psychiatric diseases such as type 2 diabetes.1 However, there has been more controversy of GWAS studies related to bipolar (BP) spectrum disorder and other complex psychiatric traits. Part of the controversy is explained by a small effect of single single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to the development of these diseases and the difficulty of detecting rare alleles. Also, the diagnosis and lack of measurable physiological parameters in these diseases is still challenging the field.2 However, three GWAS studies on BP have been published up to date.1, 3, 4 These recent studies identified several candidate genes but shared only a small amount of findings.5 In this replication study, our aim has been to elucidate the role of these variants in Finnish BP families.

We have analysed the strongest associating SNPs from the Welcome Trust Case Control Consortium,1 from Baum et al. and from meta-analysis5 in a Finnish family-based study sample of BP. From Baum et al. and WTCCC, we selected the best associating SNPs (P-value <0.0001 and P<0.000054, respectively) and those SNPs that are located at lithium pathway genes. Altogether we genotyped 26 SNPs in 723 individuals from 180 families with type I bipolar disorder, using Sequenom iPLEX technology.6, 7 We studied the patients’ phenotypic association using dichotomized diagnostic classes of bipolar type I disorder and broad mood disorder spectrum as assessed with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition criteria. Single SNP and haplotype association analyses were carried out using FBAT8 coding the unaffected family members as unknown.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Medicine, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland

    H M Ollila, P Soronen, K Silander, O M Palo, T Kieseppä, M A Kaunisto, L Peltonen & T Paunio

  2. Department of Medical Genetics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    L Peltonen

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

    T Paunio

  4. The Finnish Genome Center, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    M A Kaunisto

  5. Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Folkhälsan Research Center, Biomedicum Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    M A Kaunisto

  6. Department of Mental Health and Alcohol Research, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland

    T Kieseppä, J Lönnqvist & T Partonen

  7. The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK

    L Peltonen

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  1. H M Ollila
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  2. P Soronen
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  3. K Silander
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  9. T Partonen
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  10. T Paunio
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Correspondence to T Paunio.

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Ollila, H., Soronen, P., Silander, K. et al. Findings from bipolar disorder genome-wide association studies replicate in a Finnish bipolar family-cohort. Mol Psychiatry 14, 351–353 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2008.122

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