A discriminating messenger RNA signature for bipolar disorder formed by an aberrant expression of inflammatory genes in monocytes

Abstract

Context: Mood disturbances are associated with an activated inflammatory response system. Objective: To identify a discriminating and coherent expression pattern of proinflammatory genes in monocytes of patients with bipolar disorder. Design: A quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) case-control gene expression study on purified monocytes of bipolar patients, the offspring of bipolar patients, and healthy control participants after having selected 22 discriminating inflammatory genes using whole genome analyses. Setting: Academic research setting in the Netherlands. Patients: Forty-two bipolar patients with 25 healthy controls, 54 offspring of a bipolar parent (13 had a mood disorder and 3 developed one during follow-up), and 70 healthy children underwent Q-PCR. Main Outcome Measure: Inflammatory gene expression levels in monocytes. Results: We detected in the monocytes of bipolar patients a coherent mutually correlating set (signature) of 19 aberrantly expressed (P