Peripheral PDLIM5 expression in bipolar disorder and the effect of olanzapine administration

• Main Authors: Zain Mohd, Jahan Suffee, Reynolds Gavin P, Zainal Nor, Kanagasundram Sharmilla, Mohamed Zahurin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2012-10-01
• Series: BMC Medical Genetics
• Subjects: Bipolar disorder; Manic; Leukocytes; Olanzapine
• Online Access: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2350/13/91

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>One of the genes suggested to play an important role in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BPD) is <it>PDLIM5</it>, which encodes LIM domain protein. Our main objective was to examine the effect of olanzapine treatment on <it>PDLIM5</it> mRNA expression in the peripheral blood leukocytes of BPD patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We measured the expression of <it>PDLIM5</it> mRNA from 16 patients with BPD Type I after 0, 4, and 8 weeks of treatment with olanzapine using quantitative real-time PCR. The Young Mania Rating Scale was used to evaluate the severity of manic symptoms in BPD patients. We also compared <it>PDLIM5</it> mRNA expression in treatment-naïve BPD patients with that in healthy control subjects.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No significant difference was found in <it>PDLIM5</it> mRNA expression between patients before olanzapine treatment and following 4 and 8 weeks of treatment (<it>p</it>>0.05). Although we observed a significant reduction in the severity of manic symptoms in all BPD patients (<it>p</it><0.05), the effectiveness of the medication did not significantly correlate with the expression of <it>PDLIM5</it> mRNA (<it>p</it>>0.05). Interestingly, <it>PDLIM5</it> mRNA expression differed significantly between treatment-naïve BPD patients and healthy control subjects (<it>p</it>=0.002).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p><it>PDLIM5</it> mRNA expression did not appear to be a reflection of the efficacy of olanzapine in reducing the manic symptoms of BPD. The significant difference in expression of <it>PDLIM5</it> mRNA in the peripheral blood leukocytes of treatment-naïve BPD patients versus that of healthy control subjects, however, suggests that it may be a good biological marker for BPD.</p>