Evidence for the Aetiological Theories: Genetic
Which genes might be involved? Probably a variety of genes, each exerting a small effect, but which in total raise an individual's risk
- no single gene abnormality is necessary or sufficient to induce the illness
Recent research has focussed on genes coding for:
a) enzymes involved in Dopamine & Serotonin metabolism
b) proteins which interact with Lithium
Abnormalities at some loci (e.g. on chromosomes 13 & 22) appear to be COMMON to both Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia
(See: Baum et al. A genome-wide association study. Molecular Psychiatry 2007and Lachman et al. Linkage studies suggest a possible locus for bipolar disorder. American journal of medical genetics (74) 1997)