Can an Investigation of a Single Gene be Effective in Differentiating Certain Features of the Bipolar Disorder Profile?

Martina Piras; Alessandra Scano; Germano Orrù; Antonio Preti; Cinzia Marchese; Goce Kalcev

doi:10.2174/1745017902117010187

Can an Investigation of a Single Gene be Effective in Differentiating Certain Features of the Bipolar Disorder Profile?

Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health. 2021 Dec 22:17:187-189. doi: 10.2174/1745017902117010187. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Martina Piras¹, Alessandra Scano², Germano Orrù², Antonio Preti³, Cinzia Marchese⁴, Goce Kalcev¹

Affiliations

¹ Innovation Sciences and Technologies, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
² Department of Surgical Science, Molecular Biology Service Lab,, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
³ Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
⁴ Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

Bipolar disorder (BD) is amongst the most common heritable mental disorders, but the clarification of its genetic roots has proven to be very challenging. Many single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified to be associated with BD. SNPs in the CACNA1C gene have emerged as the most significantly associated with the disease. The aim of the present study is to provide a concise description of SNP 1006737 variants identified by Real Time PCR and confirm sequencing analysis with the Sanger method in order to estimate the association with BD. The molecular method was tested on 47 Sardinian subjects of whom 23 were found to not be mutated, 1 was found to be a carrier of the homozygous A allele and 23 were found to be carriers of the heterozygous G allele. Moreover, the positive results of the preliminary application suggest that the development of the screener could be extended to the other 5 genetic variables identified as associated with BD.

Keywords: Bipolar disorder; CACNA1C; Evolutionary model; FRET probe; Genes; Mental disorder.

Publication types

Editorial