Association of Per3 gene with bipolar disorder: comment on 'Association study of 21 circadian genes with bipolar I disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and schizophrenia'.

摘要

The circadian clock comprises several genes organized into feedback loops, generating rhythmic expression patterns over 24 hours (1). Since bipolar disorder (BD) has a well-established genetic determinism (2), clock genes are natural candidates to be associated with BD. In fact, several pieces of evidence support the role of a circadian disturbance in BD (3). Lithium modulates glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta, which is supposed to be one of the possible mechanisms of action of this drug in the treatment of BD (4, 5). Interestingly, this kinase is involved in the expression of several circadian genes (6). Several studies showed that BD patients may present disrupted biological rhythms manifested as modifications on hormonal release and sleep function (7, 8).