Objective: Bipolar disorder is a common, severe, and recurrent psychiatric disorder. The Disrupted in Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) gene has been associated with the risk of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, autism, and Asperger syndrome in different populations. Here, we report the first association study for the DISC1 with bipolar disorder in Chinese cohorts.
Methods: We conducted a case-control study and genotyped 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms in 506 bipolar patients and 507 controls recruited from Anhui province in China. The genotyping procedure was carried on the ABI 7900 DNA detection platform by using TaqMan probe technology.
Result: Although the data did not show association between any individual single nucleotide polymorphism in the DISC1 gene and bipolar disorder, a haplotype [rs2738864 (C)-rs16841582 (C)] was found to be associated with the disorder (P = 0.0191).
Conclusion: This finding provides evidence supporting the role of DISC1 gene in bipolar disorder, and shows the presence of population heterogeneity.