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A Pharmcogenetic Study of Bipolar Disorder in a Taiwanese Han Chinese Population (TWBP)

Objective: To identify genetic variants associated with response to lithium prophylaxis treatment.

Materials: 294 bipolar I (BPI) patients receiving lithium treatment, a subset of 1761 bipolar I (BPI) patients recruited by the Taiwan Bipolar Consortium. Lithium response was assessed based on the Alda Scale.

Methods: Responders to lithium treatment were defined if the patients' Alda Scale > 4, 5, 6, and 7. Genome-wide association (GWA) analysis was carried out on the 294 BPI patients for the 4 definitions of responders. The SNPs showing strongest association in the GWAS were then tested for association in a replication sample of 100 patients and further tested in a prospective follow-up series of 24 patients.

Results: Two SNPs on GADL1 showed the strongest associations in the four GWA analyses and in the replication set of 100 patients. These two SNPs had a sensitivity of 0.93 for predicting lithium response and differentiated between the good and poor responders in the follow-up cohort.

Summary: These genetic variants are associated with response to lithium prophylaxis treatment for BPI.