Antidepressant Treatment and Manic Switch in Bipolar I Disorder: A Clinical and Molecular Genetic Study.

Affective switch is an important clinical issue when treating bipolar disorder. Though commonly seen in clinical practice, the benefits of prescribing antidepressants for bipolar depression are still controversial. To date, there have been few genetic studies and no genome-wide association study (GWAS), focusing on manic switch following bipolar depression.

Genome-wide association study of early-onset bipolar I disorder in the Han Taiwanese population.

The search for susceptibility genes underlying the heterogeneous bipolar disorder has been inconclusive, often with irreproducible results. There is a hope that narrowing the phenotypes will increase the power of genetic analysis. Early-onset bipolar disorder is thought to be a genetically homogeneous subtype with greater symptom severity.

Immunophenotypes associated with bipolar disorder and lithium treatment.

Immune dysfunction is implicated in the etiology of bipolar disorder. The single-nucleotide polymorphism rs17026688 in the gene encoding glutamate decarboxylase-like protein 1 (GADL1) has been found to be associated with lithium response in Han Chinese patients with bipolar I disorder (BDI). However, whether patients with GADL1 polymorphisms have different immunophenotypes is unknown.

Lithium and GADL1 regulate glycogen synthase kinase-3 activity to modulate KCTD12 expression.

Potassium channel tetramerization domain containing 12 (KCTD12), the auxiliary GABA receptor subunit, is identified as a susceptibility gene for bipolar I (BPI) disorder in the Han Chinese population. Moreover, the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs17026688 in glutamate decarboxylase-like protein 1 (GADL1) is shown to be associated with lithium response in Han Chinese BPI patients. In this study, we demonstrated for the first time the relationship among lithium, GADL1, and KCTD12.

Effects of GADL1 overexpression on cell migration and the associated morphological changes.

Lithium has been used for maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder, but drug response varies among patients. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in glutamate decarboxylase-like protein 1 (GADL1) are found to be associated with lithium response in Han Chinese bipolar patients. In this study, we assessed GADL1 function using a neuroblastoma cell line that stably overexpressed GADL1.

variant and medication adherence in predicting response to lithium maintenance treatment in bipolar I disorder.

Background: Genetic variants and medication adherence have been identified to be the main factors contributing to lithium treatment response in bipolar disorders.

Aims: To simultaneously examine effects of variant glutamate decarboxylase-like protein 1 () and medication adherence on response to lithium maintenance treatment in Han Chinese patients with bipolar I (BPI) disorder.

Method: Frequencies of manic and depressive episodes between carriers and non-carriers of the effective rs17026688 T allele during the cumulative periods of off-lithium, poor adherence to lithium treatment and good adherence to lithium treatment were compared in Han Chinese patients with BPI disorder (=215).

Association Study of Gene Polymorphisms in GABA, Serotonin, Dopamine, and Alcohol Metabolism Pathways with Alcohol Dependence in Taiwanese Han Men.

Background: The roles of GABA, serotonin, dopamine, and alcohol metabolism pathways in alcohol dependence (AD) are evident from animal models and human studies. Aims of this study were to investigate associations between genes in the 4 pathways and AD.

Methods: Male subjects from 2 independent samples of Taiwanese Han descent, a family sample of 179 trios and a case-control sample of 262 AD cases and 273 normal controls, were included in this study.

Variant GADL1 and response to lithium therapy in bipolar I disorder.

Background: Lithium has been a first-line choice for maintenance treatment of bipolar disorders to prevent relapse of mania and depression, but many patients do not have a response to lithium treatment.

Methods: We selected subgroups from a sample of 1761 patients of Han Chinese descent with bipolar I disorder who were recruited by the Taiwan Bipolar Consortium. We assessed their response to lithium treatment using the Alda scale and performed a genomewide association study on samples from one subgroup of 294 patients with bipolar I disorder who were receiving lithium treatment.

Assessment of Response to Lithium Maintenance Treatment in Bipolar Disorder: A Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLiGen) Report.

Objective: The assessment of response to lithium maintenance treatment in bipolar disorder (BD) is complicated by variable length of treatment, unpredictable clinical course, and often inconsistent compliance. Prospective and retrospective methods of assessment of lithium response have been proposed in the literature. In this study we report the key phenotypic measures of the "Retrospective Criteria of Long-Term Treatment Response in Research Subjects with Bipolar Disorder" scale currently used in the Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLiGen) study.

A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990-2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010.

Background: Quantification of the disease burden caused by different risks informs prevention by providing an account of health loss different to that provided by a disease-by-disease analysis. No complete revision of global disease burden caused by risk factors has been done since a comparative risk assessment in 2000, and no previous analysis has assessed changes in burden attributable to risk factors over time.

Methods: We estimated deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs; sum of years lived with disability [YLD] and years of life lost [YLL]) attributable to the independent effects of 67 risk factors and clusters of risk factors for 21 regions in 1990 and 2010.

Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 291 diseases and injuries in 21 regions, 1990-2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010.

Background: Measuring disease and injury burden in populations requires a composite metric that captures both premature mortality and the prevalence and severity of ill-health. The 1990 Global Burden of Disease study proposed disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) to measure disease burden. No comprehensive update of disease burden worldwide incorporating a systematic reassessment of disease and injury-specific epidemiology has been done since the 1990 study.

Years lived with disability (YLDs) for 1160 sequelae of 289 diseases and injuries 1990-2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010.

Background: Non-fatal health outcomes from diseases and injuries are a crucial consideration in the promotion and monitoring of individual and population health. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) studies done in 1990 and 2000 have been the only studies to quantify non-fatal health outcomes across an exhaustive set of disorders at the global and regional level. Neither effort quantified uncertainty in prevalence or years lived with disability (YLDs).

Changing trends in the prevalence of common mental disorders in Taiwan: a 20-year repeated cross-sectional survey.

Background: Macrosocial changes might affect mental health. We investigated whether the prevalence of common mental disorders (CMDs) changed over a 20-year period of industrialisation in Taiwan.

Methods: We used the 12-item Chinese Health Questionnaire to assess mental status of Taiwanese adults in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010.

Psychopathology and symptom remission at adolescence among children with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine changes of attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and psychiatric comorbidities at adolescence, and mother-child agreement on reports of ADHD symptoms among children with ADHD as compared to unaffected controls.

Methods: The participants included 93 patients (male, 82.8%) aged 11-16, who were clinically diagnosed with ADHD at the mean age of 7.

Executive function in adolescence among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Taiwan.

Objective: Little is known about executive function among adolescents with a childhood diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and there is a lack of such information in an ethnic Chinese population. This study investigated nonverbal executive functions in adolescence among Taiwanese children with ADHD.

Methods: The sample included fifty-three 11- to 16-year-old adolescents (male, 75.

A functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the tryptophan hydroxylase gene is associated with alcohol dependence in one aboriginal group in Taiwan.

Background: Polymorphisms within intron 7 of the tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH1) gene were found to be associated with alcohol dependence in different ethnic groups, including the aboriginal Bunun group in Taiwan. This study aimed to identify genetic variants at the TPH1 locus and to examine their associations with alcoholism. We hypothesized that the polymorphism of TPH1 gene is functional and influences the human circadian rhythm to contribute to the pathophysiology of alcohol dependence.

Association study of novel human serotonin 5-HT(1B) polymorphisms with alcohol dependence in Taiwanese Han.

Background: Abnormal serotonergic pathways are implicated in numerous neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression, anxiety, migraine, substance abuse, and alcoholism. The human serotonin receptor 1B, encoded by the HTR1B gene, is a presynaptic serotonin autoreceptor that plays a role in regulating serotonin synthesis and release. Because the linkage of antisocial alcoholism to the HTR1B gene was recently reported in two populations, it was of interest to identify genetic variants at the HTR1B locus and study their association with alcoholism in the Taiwanese Han population.