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Mental illnesses

For the first time, a study showed that five psychiatric disorders, autism, depression, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), bipolar disorder and schizophrenia-share genetic risk factors. The conclusion of the researchers is the Consortium for Genetics and Psychiatry, United States.

In the medical journal "Lancet", reviewed the genome of more than 33 000 patients diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses and 27 000 volunteers from a control group without the disorder, looking for variations in DNA that could cause susceptibility to five diseases.

The result is the identification of regions with similarities to disorders in two chromosomes and two genes linked to the channels that regulate the flow of calcium in brain cells. The study shows that a specific biological pathway related to calcium channels ("pore" cell) contributes to the pathogenesis of various psychiatric problems and reaffirms the potential of this pathway as a target for new classes of drugs.

The study has great impact by the number of patients involved and is interesting because it examines what these diseases have in common. "The study shows that they have 'molecular pathways' similar," he says. He recalls, however, that there is no practical application for anyone who has found one of these diseases.