Neurotransmitters and signal transduction processes in bipolar affective disorders: a synopsis

New technologies have led to tremendous progress in understanding what today we call bipolar disorders, whose clinical diagnosis has been refined continuously since Kraepelin first described them. Molecular genetic studies have produced interesting findings, but to date have failed to identify specific genes that are so far responsible for the vulnerability to bipolar disorders. Biochemical studies in combination with pharmacotherapy give hints that the neurotransmitter function and the related signal transduction may be abnormally regulated. Since all the neurotransmitter circuits are interconnected, the dysregulation may occur on different levels and it is rather improbable that one single abnormality should account for the disorder. This paper reviews these promising developments.