No association between wolframin gene H611R polymorphism and mood disorders: evidence from 2,570 subjects

Psychiatric Diagnoses and Medications in Wolfram Syndrome

Background

Wolfram Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder usually resulting from pathogenic variation in the WFS1 gene, which leads to an exaggerated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response. The disorder is typically characterized by diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus, optic nerve atrophy, hearing loss, and neurodegenerative features. Existing literature suggests it may also have psychiatric manifestations.

Objective

To examine lifetime psychiatric diagnoses and medication history in Wolfram Syndrome.

Method

Child, adolescent, and young adult Wolfram Syndrome participants (n=39) were assessed by a child & adolescent psychiatrist to determine best estimate DSM-5 lifetime psychiatric diagnoses as well as psychoactive medication history. In addition, the Child & Adolescent Symptom Inventory-5 (CASI-5) Parent Checklist was used to determine likely psychiatric diagnoses based on symptom counts in Wolfram Syndrome patients (n=33), type 1 diabetes (n=15), and healthy comparison (n=18) groups.

Results

Study participants with Wolfram Syndrome had high lifetime rates of anxiety disorders (77%). Also, 31% had an obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder, 33% had a mood disorder, 31% had a neurodevelopmental or disruptive behavior disorder, and 31% had a sleep-wake disorder. More than half of Wolfram Syndrome participants had taken at least one psychoactive medication, and one third had taken at least one selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Some individuals reported poor response to sertraline but better response after switching to another SSRI (fluoxetine or citalopram). In general, people with Wolfram Syndrome often reported benefit from psychotherapy and/or commonly used psychoactive medications appropriate for their psychiatric diagnoses.

Conclusions

Wolfram Syndrome may be associated with elevated risk for anxiety and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, which seem generally responsive to usual treatments for these disorders.

Association analysis of ANK3 variants with bipolar disorder in the Korean population

BACKGROUND

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a major psychiatric disorder characterized by alternating mood episodes, including major depressive, hypomanic, and manic episodes. Previous genetic studies of BD have reported several genes as potentially associated with BD. The ANK3 gene has been identified as a possible BD susceptibility gene in genome-wide association analyses.

AIMS

The goal of the present study was to evaluate the association of ANK3 variants with BD in the Korean population.

METHODS

Based on previous results, two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs1938526 and rs10994336, were selected in the ANK3 gene. The study included 287 BD patients and 340 healthy controls. Case-control association and case-control haplotype analyses of the two ANK3 variants were performed.

RESULTS

No significant association was found of either single SNP with BD by case-control association analysis. However, rs1938526 and rs10994336 showed a significant association (overall p = 3.6 × 10^-11; permutation p = 0) in a case-control haplotype analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The haplotype analysis results suggest that ANK3 variants rs1938526 and rs10994336 may confer susceptibility for BD in the Korean population. Association analysis revealed a probable genetic difference between Korean and Caucasian populations in the degree of ANK3 involvement in BD pathogenesis.