Description:
<jats:p>Several genes of the glutamatergic system have been implicated in both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The Src family tyrosine kinase FYN plays a key role in the interaction between brain-derived neurotrophic factor and glutamatergic receptor N-methyl-<i>D</i>-aspartate. Although no association between <i>FYN</i> gene polymorphisms and schizophrenia has been demonstrated, in our previous paper we found an association between <i>FYN </i>polymorphisms and cognitive test performance in schizophrenic patients. The aim of this study was to find a possible association of three polymorphisms of the <i>FYN</i> gene with bipolar disorder. We analyzed 425 bipolar patients and 518 control subjects. Genotypes of three analyzed polymorphisms, i.e. rs706895 (–93A/G in the 5′-flanking region), rs6916861 (Ex12+894T/G in the 3′-UTR) and rs3730353 (IVS10+37T/C in intron 10) were established by PCR-RFLP. A significant association was found between rs6916861 T/G and rs3730353 T/C polymorphisms of the <i>FYN </i>gene and bipolar disorder. These results were also significant in the subgroups of bipolar I and early-onset (<18 years) bipolar disorder patients. No association with –93 A/G polymorphism was found. Haplotype analysis revealed that rs6916861 T/G and rs3730353 T/C polymorphisms are in linkage disequilibrium (r<sup>2</sup> = 0.86, D′ = 0.93 with 95% CI = 0.9–0.97). The results suggest that the glutamatergic <i>FYN</i> gene may be associated with bipolar disorder, particularly with type I illness and early age of onset.</jats:p>