Gene environment interactions in bipolar disorder

It has been estimated that the heritable component of bipolar disorder ranges between 80 and 90%. However, even genome-wide association studies explain only a fraction of phenotypic variability not resolving the problem of "lost heritability". Although direct evidence for epigenetic dysfunction in bipolar disorder is still limited, methodological technologies in epigenomic profiling have advanced, offering even single cell analysing and resolving the problem of cell heterogeneity in epigenetics research. Gene overlapping with other mental disorders represents another problem in identifying potential susceptibility genes in bipolar disorder. Better understanding of the interplay between multiple environmental and genetic factors involved in the patogenesis of bipolar disorder could provide relevant information for treatment of patients with this complex disorder. Future studies on the role of these factors in psychopathological conditions, subphenotypes and endophenotypes may greatly benefit by using more precise clinical data and a combined approach with multiple research tools incorporated into a single study.