Effects of BDNF and ANK3 in bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a mental disorder with emotional highs (euphoria) and lows, diagnosed especially in teenage years and early adulthood, which can cause cyclings containing manic (hypomanic) episodes and major depressive episodes. Nowadays, the suicide death rate of BD increases dramatically. Thus BD has attracted more attention from society. So far, numerous studies have argued that it is heavily influenced by genetics, and BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and ANK3 (Ankyrin 3) are regarded as the most important risk factors to BD susceptibility. Furthermore, BDNF and ANK3 play a key role in the central nervous system, which means a small mutation or change will induce some significant consequences. This article summarizes some research about the association between BDNF and BD and its typical rapid cycling and the potential effects of ANK3's cis-regulation and its variants. In addition, it introduces some information about how cis-regulation of ANK3 affects the susceptibility of BD and how some remarkable variants of ANK3 may contribute to BD. But also noteworthy is the fact that existing research results are far from enough. There is still a great deal of effort that should be devoted to figuring out the exact mechanism of BD, which must be beneficial for human health and improvement for relevant treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of AIP Conference Proceedings is the property of American Institute of Physics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)