Medizinische Universität Graz Austria/Österreich - Forschungsportal - Medical University of Graz
Gewählte Publikation:
Bauer, K.
Correlation between methylated ARNTL and peripheral levels of bound dopamine and norepinephrine in bipolar disorder
Humanmedizin; [ Diplomarbeit ] Graz Medical University; 2018. pp. 72
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- Autor*innen der Med Uni Graz:
- Betreuer*innen:
- Bengesser Susanne
- Reininghaus Eva
- Altmetrics:
- Abstract:
- Introduction: Disturbances in the circadian rhythm could explain some of the characteristic symptoms of bipolar disorder (BD), like alterations in sleeping behaviour. Hitherto literature gave reason to analyse epigenetic changes, such as methylation of ARNTL, in combination with peripheral levels of the catecholamines dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) resulting in my main hypothesis: A higher status of ARNTL methylation leads to a reduced expression of monoamine oxidase (MAOA), which is responsible for the catecholamine’s breakdown. According to our postulated model, reduced levels of MAOA cause higher levels of DA and NE, which could explain mood swings in BD. Methods: Data were gathered concluding the BIPFAT and the BIPGEN study. Participants were former in- or outpatients of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine at the Medical University of Graz. The status of methylated ARNTL was analysed by using DNA isolation with the salting out technique, bisulfite treatment of DNA, PCR and pyrosequencing. Peripheral levels of bound DA and bound NE were analysed by high performance liquid chromatography. Statistical analysis was performed by IBM SPSS version 23. Depending on homogeneity, t-test or Mann-Whitney-U test were used to analyse bound DA and NE. Spearman rank correlation was used to investigate the relation between methylated ARNTL and DA and NE. Results: No significant differences in the peripheral levels of bound DA and bound NE were found between BD and controls. The analysis of correlation between status of methylated ARNTL and bound DA and bound NE was not significant either. Conclusion: Against the expectations, I could not reveal any correlations between the epigenetic marker of ARNTL and DA as well as NE. This may be caused by a mood stabilizing treatment, a small sample size and the one-time measurement of the catecholamines. Nevertheless, current genetic research is promising and should focus on epigenetic studies, but multiple measurements will be necessary.