Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T00:21:38.195Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Genetic Study of Bipolar Affective Disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

N. MeI. James  and
C. J. Chapman
N. MeI. James
Affiliation:
Ashburn Hall, Dunedin, New Zealand
C. J. Chapman
Affiliation:
Department of Community Health, University of Auckland Medical School, Auckland, New Zealand
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A group of 46 bipolar probands and their first degree relatives were studied. A high rate of affective disorder (19.6 per cent) was found, including both unipolar (13.2 per cent) and bipolar (6.4 per cent) types, with females predominating (3: 1). The presence of four father-son pairs suffering from affective disorder made the hypothesis of X-linked dominance untenable. Results compatible with polygenic inheritance were found, using both Slater's and Falconer's methods. There was no evidence for assortative mating or for increased total number of females (both well and ill) among first degree relatives. The probands and affectively ill first degree relatives who have died show an alarmingly high rate of suicide (46 per cent). Other forms of mental disorder, including alcoholism, were no more common than in the rest of the community.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 126 , Issue 5 , May 1975 , pp. 449 - 456
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1975 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Angst, J. (1966) Zur Ätiologie und Nosologie endogener depressiver Psychosen. Berlin: Springer.Google Scholar
Angst, J. & Perris, C. (1968) Zur Nosologie endogener Depressionen. Archiv für Psychiatrie und Zeitschrift für die gesamte Neurologie, 210, 373–86.Google Scholar
Angst, J. & Perris, C. (1972) The nosology of endogenous depression. International Journal of Mental Health, 1, 145–58.Google Scholar
Brown, R. J., Elston, R. C., Pollitzer, W. S., Prange, A. & Wilson, I. (1973) Sex ratio in relatives of patients with affective disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 6, 307–9.Google Scholar
Cadoret, R. J., Winokur, G. & Clayton, Paula J. (1970) Family history studies: VII. Manic-depressive disease versus depressive disease. British Journal of Psychiatry, 116, 625–35.Google Scholar
Elston, R. C. & Stewart, J. (1971) A general model for the genetic analysis of pedigree data. Human Heredity, 21, 523–42.Google Scholar
Falconer, D. S. (1965) The inheritance of liability to certain diseases, estimated from the incidence among relatives. Annals of Human Genetics, 29, 51–76.Google Scholar
Foster, F. (1962) Maori Patients in Mental Hospitals. Wellington, N.Z.: Dept. of Health (Medical Statistics Branch).Google Scholar
Gershon, E. S., Dunner, D. L. & Goodwin, F. K. (1971) Toward a biology of affective disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 25, 1–15.Google Scholar
Gershon, E. S., Dunner, D. L., Sturt, Lisa & Goodwin, F. K. (1973) Assortative mating in the affective disorders. Biological Psychiatry, 7, 63–73.Google ScholarPubMed
Ishihara, S. (1968) Tests for Colour-Blindness. Tokyo: Kanehera Shuppan.Google Scholar
Kielholz, P. (1959) Clinique diagnostic différentiel et traitement des états dépressifs. Acta Psychosomatica (Geigy), No. 2.Google Scholar
Kinkelin, M. (1954) Verlauf und Prognose des manischdepressiver Irreseins. Schweizer Archiv für Neurologie und Psychiatrie, 73, 100–146.Google Scholar
Kraepelin, E. (1921) Manic-depressive Insanity and Paranoia (trans. Barclay, ). Edinburgh: E. & S. Livingstone.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leonhard, K. (1959) Aufteilung der endogenen Psychosen. 2nd ed. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.Google Scholar
Lundquist, G. (1945) Prognosis and course in manic-depressive psychoses. Acta Psychiatrica et Neurologica Scandinavica. Supplementum 35.Google Scholar
Mendlewicz, J., Fieve, R. R., Rainer, J. D. & Cataldo, M. (1973) Affective disorder on paternal and maternal sides. British Journal of Psychiatry, 122, 31–4.Google Scholar
Mendlewicz, J., Fleiss, J. L. & Fieve, R. R. (1972) Evidence for X-linkage in the transmission of manic-depressive psychosis. Journal of the American Medical Association, 222, 1624–8.Google Scholar
Perris, C., (ed.) (1966) A study of bipolar (manic-depressive) and unipolar recurrent depressive psychoses. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, Supplementum 194.Google Scholar
Perris, C. (1969) Genetic transmission of depressive psychoses. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, Supplementum 203, 45–52.Google Scholar
Perris, C. (1971) Abnormality on paternal and maternal sides: observations in bipolar (manic-depressive) and unipolar depressive psychoses. British Journal of Psychiatry, 118, 207–10.Google Scholar
Rawnsley, K. (1968) Epidemiology of affective disorders. In Recent Developments in Affective Disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry Special Publication No. 2. London.Google Scholar
Reich, T., James, J. W. & Morris, C. A. (1972) The use of multiple thresholds in determining the mode of transmission of semi-continuous traits. Annals of Human Genetics, 36, 163–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slater, E. (1966) Expectation of abnormality on paternal and maternal sides: a computational model. Journal of Medical Genetics, 3, 159–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slater, E. & Tsuang, M.T. (1968) Abnormality on paternal and maternal sides: observations in schizophrenia and manic-depression. Journal of Medical Genetics, 5, 197–99.Google Scholar
Strömgren, E. (1935) Zum Ersatz des Weinbergschen ‘Abgekurzten Verfahrens’ Zeitschrift fur die gesamte Neurologie und Psychiatrie, 153, 784–97.Google Scholar
Winokur, G., Cadoret, R., Dorzab, J. & Baker, M. (1971) Depressive illness: a genetic study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 24, 135–44.Google Scholar
Winokur, G., Clayton, Paula J. & Reich, T. (1969) Manic-Depressive Illness. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.