Psychiatry Research
Volume 176, Issue 1 , Pages 30-33, 30 March 2010

Comorbidity between bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder: Association of dopamine and serotonin gene polymorphisms☆

  • Baseer Yasseen

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • ,
  • James L. Kennedy

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • Neuroscience Research Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • ,
  • Laurie A. Zawertailo

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • Neuroscience Research Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • ,
  • Usoa E. Busto

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • Neuroscience Research Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. 33 Russell Street, Room 1053B Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2S1. Tel.: +1 416 535 8501x6812; fax: +1 416 595 6618.

Received 23 October 2007; received in revised form 4 December 2008; accepted 30 December 2008.

Abstract 

Bipolar disorder is a chronic mental illness with high prevalence of co-occurring alcohol use disorder. Linkage studies have revealed several candidate genes in the dopaminergic and serotonergic pathways which may be associated with both bipolar and alcohol use disorders. We investigated the relationship between polymorphisms in candidate genes and alcohol use disorder comorbidity in bipolar patients. We performed a retrospective study of a genomic database consisting of 278 bipolar disorder patients. Diagnosis of bipolar disorder was according to the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders (SCID-I). RFLP analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms were performed in dopamine (DRD1, DRD2 and DRD3) and serotonin receptor and transporter genes (5HTTLPR, 5HT1B, 5HT2A, 5HT2C). There were 179 (64%) females in the database. Seventy-one (25.5%) of the bipolar patients were diagnosed as comorbid alcohol use disorder. Chi-square analysis indicated that in female bipolar patients, there was a significant difference in genotype frequency between the bipolar patients with comorbid alcohol use disorder and non-comorbid bipolar patients for the Ser23Cys (rs6318) polymorphism of the 5HT2C gene. Overall, the results indicate a possible association between 5HT2C and alcohol use disorder comorbidity.

Keywords: Alcoholism, Genetics, Bipolar disorder, Comorbidity

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 31.50 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 

☆ The authors of this paper do not hold any commercial associations that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the manuscript.

PII: S0165-1781(09)00003-1

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2008.12.009

Psychiatry Research
Volume 176, Issue 1 , Pages 30-33, 30 March 2010

Article Tools