Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2026

Developing a Rat Model for Bipolar Disorder
Published on: May 2, 2025
Glucocorticoid receptor polymorphism is associated with lithium response in bipolar patients
Aleksandra Szczepankiewicz1, Janusz K Rybakowski, Aleksandra Suwalska
1Department of Psychiatry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland. alszczep@amp.edu.pl
Objectives:
Glucocorticoid receptor has been considered in the pathogenesis of bipolar disorder as it is an important regulator of the circadian rhythm and HPA negative feedback. As glucocorticoid receptor may be possibly related to lithium action we aimed to investigate variation in the GR gene in association with response to lithium treatment in Polish population of bipolar patients.
Methods:
We analyzed 115 bipolar patients treated with lithium carbonate for 5-27 years. Thirty patients were identified as excellent lithium responders (ER), 58 patients as partial responders (PR), and 27 patients were non-responders. Genotypes of eight analyzed polymorphisms of GR gene (rs10052957, rs6196, rs6198, rs6191, rs258813, rs33388, rs6195, rs41423247) were established by TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays. Statistical analysis was done with Statistica version 9.0. Linkage disequilibrium analysis was performed in Haploview v. 4.1.
Results:
We have found significant differences in allele frequencies for BclI polymorphism between patients with different lithium response with C allele associated with excellent lithium response. For the other GR polymorphisms any significant association with different lithium response was found. We observed a strong linkage disequilibrium of five GR polymorphisms (rs6198, rs6191, rs6196, rs258813, rs33388), with TAAGA haplotype more prevalent in the group of partial- and non-responders to lithium.
Conclusion:
The GR gene variation seems to be involved in the response to lithium treatment in our group of bipolar patients.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Pharmacogenetics of Drug Targets: β₂-Adrenergic Receptors, Apo E, Thymidylate Synthase
Pharmacogenetic Phenotypes: Alterations in Pharmacokinetics, Drug Targets and Biologic Milieu
Mania and Antimanic Drugs: Overview
Pharmacogenetics of Drug Metabolism: Overview
Pharmacogenomics: Identification of New Drug Targets
Drug toxicity: Idiosyncratic Reactions
