Bipolar disorder with comorbid binge eating history: a genome-wide association study implicates APOB

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a highly heritable disease. While genome-wide association (GWA) studies have identified several genetic risk factors for BD, few of these studies have investigated the genetic etiology of specific disease subtypes. In particular, BD is positively associated with eating dysregulation traits such as binge eating behavior (BE), yet the genetic risk factors underlying BD with comorbid BE have not been investigated.

Utilizing data from the Genetic Association Information Network study of BD, which included 729,454 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped in 1001 European American bipolar cases and 1034 controls, we performed GWA analyses of bipolar subtypes defined by the presence or absence of BE history, and performed a case-only analysis comparing BD subjects with and without BE history. Association signals were refined using imputation, and network analysis was performed with Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software. Based on these results, candidate SNPs were selected for replication in an independent sample of 855 cases and 857 controls.

Top ranking SNPs in the discovery set included rs6006893 in PRR5, rs17045162 in ANK2, rs13233490 near PER4, rs4665788 and rs10198175 downstream of APOB, rs2367911 in CACNA2D1, and rs7249968 near ZNF536. Rs10198175 in APOB also demonstrated evidence of association in the replication sample and a meta-analysis of the two samples.

Without information of BE history in controls, it is not possible to determine whether the observed association with APOB reflects a risk factor for BE behavior in general or a risk factor for a subtype of BD with BE. Further longitudinal and functional studies are needed to determine the causal pathways underlying the observed associations.

This study identified new potential BD-susceptibility genes, highlighting the advantages of phenotypic sub-classification in genetic research and clinical practice.