Eman Ahmed Zaky
The interaction between environmental factors and genetic vulnerability plays a major role in the development of mood disorders. Episodes of bipolar disorder could be considered as the outcome of the battle between stress and the individual’s ability to cope with; a fact that proposes a role of epigenetics in its pathogenesis and pathophysiology. Although the molecular studies on methylation of DNA and histone modification in cases of bipolar disorder are still inadequate but the role of stress in developing the disorder and the therapeutic efficacy of mood stabilizers in controlling its episodes highlight the potential influence of epigenetic variation in its occurrence. Limited availability of human brain tissue for conducting researches represents a great obstacle in replicating the findings on animal models of mood disorders in humans as humans do differ from animals in their response to environmental factors whether on the subcellular, cellular, organ, or individualistic levels; nevertheless some on-going research on DNA methylation seems to be very promising in settling the impact of epigenetics in the development of bipolar disorder with a potential role in empowering psychiatrists in helping their patients and controlling its episodes.
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Clinical Depression received 89 citations as per Google Scholar report
