Pathology

Minireview: Molecular genetics in affective illness.

Mendlewicz J, Sevy S, Mendelbaum K Department of Psychiatry, Erasme University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium. Life Sci 1993;52(3):231-242

Genetic transmission in manic depressive illness (MDI) has been explored in twins, adoption, association, and linkage studies. The X-linked transmission hypothesis has been tested by using several markers on chromosome X: Xg blood group, colour blindness, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), factor IX (haemophilia B), and DNA probes such as DXS15, DXS52, F8C, and ST14. The hypothesis of autosomal transmission has been tested by association studies with the O blood group located on chromosome 9, as well as linkage studies on chromosome 6 with the Human Leucocyte Antigens (HLA) haplotypes and on Chromosome 11 with DNA markers for the following genes: D2 dopamine receptor, tyrosinase, C-Harvey-Ras-A (HRAS) oncogene, insuline (ins), and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH).

Affective disorders and ABO blood types.

Acta Psychiatr Scand 1979 Sep;60(3):272-278 Rinieris PM, Stefanis CN, Lykouras EP, Varsou EK

Results of the present study provide evidence of: 1) a positive association between bipolar affective disorder and blood type O and a corresponding negative association between the former and blood type A, 2) a positive association between unipolar affective disorder and blood type O, and 3) a positive association between involutional depression and blood type A and a corresponding negative association between the former and blood types B and O. Sex does not appear to modify the ABO blood types' distribution in patients with bipolar, unipolar affective disorder, or involutional depression, and the same holds for early- or late-onset of the illness in patients with bipolar or unipolar affective disorders. Findings in the present study do not support the validity of the bipolar-unipolar distinction of affective disorders, and provide evidence in favour of the view that involutional depression is a genetically distinct nosological entity.

Blood groups and affective disorders.

Takazawa N, Kimura T, Nanko S Department of Psychiatry, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. Jpn J Psychiatry Neurol 1988 Dec;42(4):753-758

Distributions of seven blood groups (ABO, MNSs, P, Rh, Duffy, Kidd and Xg) were studied in a total of 118 Japanese patients with affective disorders. The patients were diagnosed according to the DSM-III: (1) Major Depression (= Unipolar Disorder UP), (2) Bipolar Disorder (BP), and (3) Other Affective Disorders. The following results were found: (1) a high frequency of the B blood group in all patients with affective disorders compared with controls; (2) a high frequency of the Fy(a+b+) and a low frequency of the Fy(a+b-) in all patients with affective disorders, UP and BP compared with controls; (3) a low frequency of the Jk(a+b+) and a high frequency of the Jk(a+b-) in BP compared with controls and with UP.

Psychopharmacological studies in genetically determined subgroups of psychiatric patients.

Rafaelsen OJ, Shapiro RW Prog Neuropsychopharmacol 1979;3(1-3):147-154 Department of Psychiatry, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

1. As a prerequisite for psychopharmacological studies in subgroups of psychiatric patients two approaches will be described: a. A multiaxial classification system for affective disorders (MULTI-CLAD). b. Studies of ABO- and HLA-systems in patients with affective disorders. In sixty-six manic-melancholic patients selected with this criteria, the differences between all patients combined versus controls were not significant, but a significantly higher percentage of bipolar patients (70%) than of unipolar patients (22%) had blood group O, while a significantly higher percentage of unipolar patients (65%) than of bipolar patients (23%) had blood group A. 2. The findings are in the process of further study involving some 300 patients from the Psychochemistry out-patient-clinic. The purpose is to see whether less selected groups of patients with affective disorders show less marked profiles for ABO and HLA, as this will have importance for the selection of subgroups of patients for psychopharmacological studies.

Evidence for possible linkage between genetic markers and affective disorders.

Biol Psychiatry 1988 Dec;24(8):903-917 Hill EM, Wilson AF, Elston RC, Winokur G Department of Biometry and Genetics, Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans.

Studies of the underlying components of affective disorders are particularly difficult because of the confounding effects of both genetic and environmental factors. Linkage analysis is a useful tool in delineating the etiology of affective disorders, as it is unlikely that linkage between behavioral traits and blood group polymorphisms could result from environmental effects. The present study used the robust Haseman and Elston sibpair method to analyze linkage between 24 genetic markers and affective disorder in 34 nuclear families from 25 pedigrees (195 people). The probands were ascertained as part of the ongoing NIMH Collaborative Depression Study. Indications of linkage between familial pure depressive disease and MNS and depression spectrum disease and ORM were found, as had been previously suggested. There was also suggestive evidence for linkage between the latter and GC. Results are discussed in terms of methodological differences with previous studies. ABO Polymorphism/ Manic-depressive

ABO blood groups in manic-depressive patients.

J Affect Disord 1981 Mar;3(1):1-7 Rihmer Z, Arato M

The authors compared the ABO blood type distribution pattern of 246 manic-depressive patients to that of 6000 controls. The blood type distribution of all patients did not differ from that of the controls. After subdivision of the patients into subgroups Bipolar I (n = 151) and Bipolar II (n = 95) significant differences were found for blood types O and A between the 2 subgroups, and between the Bipolar II patients and controls. After division of the patients into 3 diagnostic subgroups (Bipolar-A, n = 30; Bipolar-B, n = 121; Bipolar-C, n = 95) significant differences were found in the distribution of blood groups O and A among the 3 subgroups, and Bipolar-A and Bipolar-C patients also differed from the controls. The results may provide additional support for the subclassification of bipolar major affective disorders into 3 subgroups. ABO Polymorphism/ Behavior

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