The black sheep of the family- whole-exome sequencing in family of lithium response discordant bipolar monozygotic twins.

Abstract

Twin studies are among the most promising strategies for studying heritable disorders, including bipolar disorder (BD). The aim of the present study was to identify distinguishing genes between monozygotic (MZ) twins with different BD phenotype and compare them to their non-affected siblings. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) can identify rare and structural variants that could detect the polygenetic burden of complex disorders. WES was performed on a family composed of two MZ twins with BD, their unaffected brother and unaffected parents. The twins have a discordant response to lithium and distinct course of illness. Following WES, six genes of particular interest emerged: Neurofibromin type 1 (NF1), Biorientation of chromosomes in cell division 1 (BOD1), Golgi-associated gamma adaptin ear-containing ARF binding protein 3 (GGA3), Disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1), Neuromedin U receptor 2 (NMUR2), and Huntingtin interacting protein 1-related (HIP1R). Interestingly, many of these influence glutamatergic pathways and thus the findings may have therapeutical implications. These results may provide important insights to unveil genetic underpinnings of BD and the response to lithium.

• Authors: Asaf Jacobs, Michal Hagin, Miraz Shugol, Noam Shomron, Nir Pillar, Lourdes Fañanás, Alessandro Serretti, Eduard Vieta, Dina Popovic
• Journal: European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (Eur Neuropsychopharmacol) Vol. 34 Pg. 19-27 (05 2020) ISSN: 1873-7862 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 32305265 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Chemical References

• Antidepressive Agents
• Lithium Compounds

Topics

• Adult
• Antidepressive Agents (therapeutic use)
• Bipolar Disorder (diagnosis, drug therapy, genetics)
• Female
• Genetic Association Studies (methods)
• Genetic Variation (genetics)
• Humans
• Lithium Compounds (therapeutic use)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Twins, Monozygotic (genetics)
• Exome Sequencing (methods)