The NIH -funded study of people with diverse ancestors revealed new genes involved in disorder and different genes that contribute to subtypes of specific disorder
• Outstanding research
Bipolar disorder implies fluctuating periods of manic episodes (marked by extremely «up» or irritable moods) and depressive episodes (marked by very «low» moods or lack of pleasure). Although effective treatments are available, symptoms often return over time, and maintaining long -term treatment can be a challenge. The evidence suggests that a person’s risk of developing bipolar disorder is influenced by many genes, but open questions remain about the full range of genes involved and if they differ for specific subtypes.
What did the researchers do in the study?
The greatest study of all the genome of people with bipolar disorder throws new light on genetic architecture and biological mechanisms involved in this common mental illness already often disabling. The studies of the study, financed by the National Institute of Health, can pave the way for more specific and personalized treatments that could improve the lives of people with bipolar disorder.
The world collaborative study was directed by researchers in the Bipolar Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomic Consortium. The study included 158,036 people living with bipolar disorder and 2,796,499 people without the disorder in 79 clinical, community and self -report cohorts, which makes it the largest study to date. The participants were of European, Oriental, African -American and Latin Ancestors, in contrast to previous studies carried out almost exclusively with people of European descent.
What showed the results?
The results revealed an increase of more than four times in the number of genes associated with bipolar disorder, identifying almost 300 genes of genes and unique genes with the most likely to be linked to the disorder. Many of these genes overlap with those previously involved in the risk of other mental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression.
The researchers also identified differences in genetic architecture through bipolar disorder subtypes. The findings suggest that genetics plays a key role in a broad spectrum of conditions that fall under the umbrella of bipolar disorder. These range from less common but more severe conditions that lead people to seek psychiatric attention to conditions that are less disabled but more common.
The next great challenge for the field is to understand why bipolar disorder varies both from person to person and the degree to which genetic factors can explain individual variation.
Reference
O’Connell, KS, Koromina, M., Van der Veen, T., Boltz, T., David, Fs, Yang, JMK, Lin, K.-H., Wang, X., Coleman, Jri, Mitchell, Bl, McGrouther, CC, RANGAN, AV, LIND, PA, KOH, E., HARDER, A. J., K., K., K. Agerbo, E. … Bipolar Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomic Consortium. (2025). Genomics produces biological and phenotypic ideas about bipolar disorder. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08468-9
