These findings indicate that common variations in the BCL9 gene confer risk of schizophrenia and may also be associated with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder in the Chinese Han population.
Remarkably, a functional SNP, rs945032, located in the promoter region of the bradykinin receptor B2 gene (BDKRB2) was associated to three disorders (panic disorder, substance abuse, and bipolar disorder), and two additional BDKRB2 SNPs to obsessive-compulsive disorder and major depression, providing evidence for common variants of susceptibility to several related psychiatric disorders.
Evidence for an association between brain-derived neurotrophic factor Val66Met gene polymorphism and general intellectual ability in early-onset schizophrenia.
Increased expression of the Vesicular Glutamate Transporter-1 (VGLUT1) in the prefrontal cortex correlates with differential vulnerability to chronic stress in various mouse strains: effects of fluoxetine and MK-801.
Increased expression of the Vesicular Glutamate Transporter-1 (VGLUT1) in the prefrontal cortex correlates with differential vulnerability to chronic stress in various mouse strains: effects of fluoxetine and MK-801.
This study argues for a personalized prescription of antidepressants in Caucasian patients with major depressive disorder, based on the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism: SSRI should be preferred for Val/Val patients and SNRI/TCA for Met patients.
Our study included 2679 participants.Those with both the 5-HTTLPR s allele and the BDNF Met allele showed the highest risk of MD if they had previously experienced emotional (z = 2.08, p = 0.037), sexual (z = 2.19, p = 0.029) or any kind of childhood abuse (z = 2.37, p = 0.018).
Since CACNA1C variants have been associated repeatedly with psychosis at a genome-wide level, and preclinical data provide convergent evidence for the relevance of the CACNA1C gene for hippocampal and frontolimbic plasticity and adaptive regulation of stress, our data suggest a potential pathophysiological mechanism conferred by CACNA1C variants that may mediate risk for symptom dimensions shared among bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia.
Recent genome-wide association studies have pointed to single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes encoding the neuronal calcium channel CaV1.2 (CACNA1C; rs1006737) and the presynaptic active zone protein Piccolo (PCLO; rs2522833) as risk factors for affective disorders, particularly major depression.
Our findings implicate abnormal perigenual and hippocampal activation as a promising intermediate phenotype for psychiatric disease and suggest a pathophysiologic mechanism conferred by a CACNA1C variant being implicated in risk for symptom dimensions shared among bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia.
As a result, 99 genes were listed as the differentially expressed genes in major depression, of which several genes such as FGFR1, NCAM1, and CAMK2A were of interest.