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Bipolar Affective Puerperal Psychosis Associated with Consanguinity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Nick Craddock*
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham, Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital, Birmingham B15 2QZ
Ian Brockington
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
Rebecca Mant
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychological Medicine and Medical Genetics, University of Wales College of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff CF4 4XN
Elizabeth Parfitt
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychological Medicine and Medical Genetics, University of Wales College of Medicine
Peter McGuffin
Affiliation:
University of Wales College of Medicine
Mike Owen
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychological Medicine and Medical Genetics, University of Wales College of Medicine
*
Wellcome Trust Research Fellow, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff CF4 4XN

Abstract

Most clinical and genetic evidence suggests that puerperal psychosis is closely related to bipolar affective disorder. During a linkage study of bipolar disorder we ascertained a British family in which puerperal psychosis was associated with consanguinity in three sisters. All three subjects had lifetime RDC diagnoses of bipolar I or manic disorder. An inbred brother also had bipolar I disorder. The only female member of the sibship to escape puerperal psychosis was outbred. These findings are consistent with several genetic models for bipolar disorder in this family. The most interesting possibility is a single major susceptibility locus of recessive effect. Under this assumption, the family could be used for homozygosity mapping to help localise the putative recessive locus. If other inbred families can be found in which the same putative recessive locus is operating, the power to localise the gene by homozygosity mapping would be greatly increased.

Type
Peer Review
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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