Browsing by Author "Nurnberger, John I."
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Item Assessment of First and Second Degree Relatives of Individuals With Bipolar Disorder Shows Increased Genetic Risk Scores in Both Affected Relatives and Young At-Risk Individuals(Wiley, 2015-10) Fullerton, Janice M.; Koller, Daniel L.; Edenberg, Howard J.; Foroud, Tatiana; Liu, Hai; Glowinski, Anne L.; McInnis, Melvin G.; Wilcox, Holly C.; Frankland, Andrew; Roberts, Gloria; Schofield, Peter R.; Mitchell, Philip B.; Nurnberger, John I.; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IU School of MedicineRecent studies have revealed the polygenic nature of bipolar disorder (BP), and identified common risk variants associated with illness. However, the role of common polygenic risk in multiplex families has not previously been examined. The present study examined 249 European-ancestry families from the NIMH Genetics Initiative sample, comparing subjects with narrowly defined BP (excluding bipolar II and recurrent unipolar depression; n = 601) and their adult relatives without BP (n = 695). Unrelated adult controls (n = 266) were from the NIMH TGEN control dataset. We also examined a prospective cohort of young (12–30 years) offspring and siblings of individuals with BPI and BPII disorder (at risk; n = 367) and psychiatrically screened controls (n = 229), ascertained from five sites in the US and Australia and assessed with standardized clinical protocols. Thirty-two disease-associated SNPs from the PGC-BP Working Group report (2011) were genotyped and additive polygenic risk scores (PRS) derived. We show increased PRS in adult cases compared to unrelated controls (P = 3.4 × 10−5, AUC = 0.60). In families with a high-polygenic load (PRS score ≥32 in two or more subjects), PRS distinguished cases with BPI/SAB from other relatives (P = 0.014, RR = 1.32). Secondly, a higher PRS was observed in at-risk youth, regardless of affected status, compared to unrelated controls (GEE-χ2 = 5.15, P = 0.012). This report is the first to explore common polygenic risk in multiplex families, albeit using only a small number of robustly associated risk variants. We show that individuals with BP have a higher load of common disease-associated variants than unrelated controls and first-degree relatives, and illustrate the potential utility of PRS assessment in a family context.Item Associations Between Cannabis Use, Polygenic Liability for Schizophrenia, and Cannabis-related Experiences in a Sample of Cannabis Users(Oxford University Press, 2023) Johnson, Emma C.; Colbert, Sarah M. C.; Jeffries, Paul W.; Tillman, Rebecca; Bigdeli, Tim B.; Karcher, Nicole R.; Chan, Grace; Kuperman, Samuel; Meyers, Jacquelyn L.; Nurnberger, John I.; Plawecki, Martin H.; Degenhardt, Louisa; Martin, Nicholas G.; Kamarajan, Chella; Schuckit, Marc A.; Murray, Robin M.; Dick, Danielle M.; Edenberg, Howard J.; D'Souza, Deepak Cyril; Di Forti, Marta; Porjesz, Bernice; Nelson, Elliot C.; Agrawal, Arpana; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineBackground and hypothesis: Risk for cannabis use and schizophrenia is influenced in part by genetic factors, and there is evidence that genetic risk for schizophrenia is associated with subclinical psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). Few studies to date have examined whether genetic risk for schizophrenia is associated with cannabis-related PLEs. Study design: We tested whether measures of cannabis involvement and polygenic risk scores (PRS) for schizophrenia were associated with self-reported cannabis-related experiences in a sample ascertained for alcohol use disorders (AUDs), the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). We analyzed 4832 subjects (3128 of European ancestry and 1704 of African ancestry; 42% female; 74% meeting lifetime criteria for an AUD). Study results: Cannabis use disorder (CUD) was prevalent in this analytic sample (70%), with 40% classified as mild, 25% as moderate, and 35% as severe. Polygenic risk for schizophrenia was positively associated with cannabis-related paranoia, feeling depressed or anhedonia, social withdrawal, and cognitive difficulties, even when controlling for duration of daily cannabis use, CUD, and age at first cannabis use. The schizophrenia PRS was most robustly associated with cannabis-related cognitive difficulties (β = 0.22, SE = 0.04, P = 5.2e-7). In an independent replication sample (N = 1446), associations between the schizophrenia PRS and cannabis-related experiences were in the expected direction and not statistically different in magnitude from those in the COGA sample. Conclusions: Among individuals who regularly use cannabis, genetic liability for schizophrenia-even in those without clinical features-may increase the likelihood of reporting unusual experiences related to cannabis use.Item Associations between Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors and Genetic Liability for Cognitive Performance, Depression, and Risk-Taking in a High-Risk Sample(Karger, 2021) Johnson, Emma C.; Aliev, Fazil; Meyers, Jacquelyn L.; Salvatore, Jessica E.; Tillman, Rebecca; Chang, Yoonhoo; Docherty, Anna R.; Bogdan, Ryan; Acion, Laura; Chan, Grace; Chorlian, David B.; Kamarajan, Chella; Kuperman, Samuel; Pandey, Ashwini; Plawecki, Martin H.; Schuckit, Marc; Tischfield, Jay; Edenberg, Howard J.; Bucholz, Kathleen K.; Nurnberger, John I.; Porjesz, Bernice; Hesselbrock, Victor; Dick, Danielle M.; Kramer, John R.; Agrawal, Arpana; Psychiatry, School of MedicineBackground: Suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) behaviors are moderately heritable and may reflect an underlying predisposition to depression, impulsivity, and cognitive vulnerabilities to varying degrees. Objectives: We aimed to estimate the degrees of association between genetic liability to depression, impulsivity, and cognitive performance and STBs and NSSI in a high-risk sample. Methods: We used data on 7,482 individuals of European ancestry and 3,359 individuals of African ancestry from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism to examine the links between polygenic scores (PGSs) for depression, impulsivity/risk-taking, and cognitive performance with 3 self-reported indices of STBs (suicidal ideation, persistent suicidal ideation defined as ideation occurring on at least 7 consecutive days, and suicide attempt) and with NSSI. Results: The PGS for depression was significantly associated with all 4 primary self-harm measures, explaining 0.6-2.5% of the variance. The PGS for risk-taking behaviors was also associated with all 4 self-harm behaviors in baseline models, but was no longer associated after controlling for a lifetime measure of DSM-IV alcohol dependence and abuse symptom counts. Polygenic predisposition for cognitive performance was negatively associated with suicide attempts (q = 3.8e-4) but was not significantly associated with suicidal ideation nor NSSI. We did not find any significant associations in the African ancestry subset, likely due to smaller sample sizes. Conclusions: Our results encourage the study of STB as transdiagnostic outcomes that show genetic overlap with a range of risk factors.Item Atypical Cortical Activation during Risky Decision-making in Disruptive Behavior Disordered Youth with Histories of Suicidal Ideation(Elsevier, 2020) Dir, Allyson L.; Allebach, Christian L.; Hummer, Tom A.; Adams, Zachary; Aalsma, Matthew C.; Finn, Peter R.; Nurnberger, John I.; Hulvershorn, Leslie A.; Psychiatry, School of MedicineBackground: Suicidality is a leading cause of death among adolescents. In addition to other psychiatric conditions, youths with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) are at heightened risk for suicide. Decision-making deficits are a hallmark symptom of ADHD and DBDs and are also implicated in suicidal behavior. We examined behavioral and neural differences in decision making among youths with ADHD and DBDs with (SI+) and without (SI-) histories of suicidal ideation. Methods: The Balloon Analog Risk Task, a risky decision-making task, was completed by 57 youths with ADHD and DBDs (38% SI+) during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Mean stop wager (mean wager at which youths bank money) was the primary measure of risk taking. We conducted whole-brain and region-of-interest analyses in the anterior cingulate cortex and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) during choice (win vs. inflate) and outcome (inflate vs. explode) contrasts using parametric modulators accounting for probability of balloon explosion. Results: There were no differences between SI+ and SI- youths in Balloon Analog Risk Task performance. SI+ youths showed decreasing activation in the right medial frontal gyrus when choosing inflate as explosion probability increased compared with SI- youths. During explosions, SI- youths showed increasing activation in the left OFC as explosions became more likely. SI+ showed increasing left medial OFC activity in response to inflations as explosion probability increased. Conclusions: SI+ youths may show heightened sensitivity to immediate reward and decreased sensitivity to potential loss as evidenced by medial frontal gyrus activity. OFC findings suggest that SI+ youths may be drawn to reward even when there is high probability of loss.Item The Autism Simplex Collection: an international, expertly phenotyped autism sample for genetic and phenotypic analyses(BioMed Central, 2014-05) Buxbaum, Joseph D.; Bolshakova, Nadia; Brownfeld, Jessica M.; Anney, Richard J. L.; Bender, Patrick; Bernier, Raphael; Cook, Edwin H.; Coon, Hilary; Cuccaro, Michael; Freitag, Christine M.; Hallmayer, Joachim; Geschwind, Daniel; Klauck, Sabine M.; Nurnberger, John I.; Oliveira, Guiomar; Pinto, Dalila; Poustka, Fritz; Scherer, Stephen W.; Shih, Andy; Sutcliffe, James S.; Szatmari, Peter; Vicente, Astrid M.; Vieland, Veronica; Gallagher, Louise; Department of Psychiatry, IU School of MedicineBackground There is an urgent need for expanding and enhancing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) samples, in order to better understand causes of ASD. Methods In a unique public-private partnership, 13 sites with extensive experience in both the assessment and diagnosis of ASD embarked on an ambitious, 2-year program to collect samples for genetic and phenotypic research and begin analyses on these samples. The program was called The Autism Simplex Collection (TASC). TASC sample collection began in 2008 and was completed in 2010, and included nine sites from North America and four sites from Western Europe, as well as a centralized Data Coordinating Center. Results Over 1,700 trios are part of this collection, with DNA from transformed cells now available through the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic (ADOS-G) measures are available for all probands, as are standardized IQ measures, Vineland Adaptive Behavioral Scales (VABS), the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), and physical measures (height, weight, and head circumference). At almost every site, additional phenotypic measures were collected, including the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ) and Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R), as well as the non-word repetition scale, Communication Checklist (Children’s or Adult), and Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC). Moreover, for nearly 1,000 trios, the Autism Genome Project Consortium (AGP) has carried out Illumina 1 M SNP genotyping and called copy number variation (CNV) in the samples, with data being made available through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Whole exome sequencing (WES) has been carried out in over 500 probands, together with ancestry matched controls, and this data is also available through the NIH. Additional WES is being carried out by the Autism Sequencing Consortium (ASC), where the focus is on sequencing complete trios. ASC sequencing for the first 1,000 samples (all from whole-blood DNA) is complete and data will be released in 2014. Data is being made available through NIH databases (database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP) and National Database for Autism Research (NDAR)) with DNA released in Dist 11.0. Primary funding for the collection, genotyping, sequencing and distribution of TASC samples was provided by Autism Speaks and the NIH, including the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Human Genetics Research Institute (NHGRI). Conclusions TASC represents an important sample set that leverages expert sites. Similar approaches, leveraging expert sites and ongoing studies, represent an important path towards further enhancing available ASD samples.Item Celebrating the Legacy of the Institute of Psychiatric Research (IPR), and Moving Brain Research Forward(2022-06-22) Lahiri, Debomoy K.; Nurnberger, John I.The Institute for Psychiatric Research (IPR) at Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine was a free-standing four-story building on the main IUPUI campus (791 Union Drive) just east of Eskenazi Hospital's present location. It was built in 1955-56 by the State of Indiana to house the laboratories of neuroscience investigators operating under the leadership of the IU Department of Psychiatry. For nearly six decades IPR was the home of innovative research (primarily NIH-funded) in neurochemistry, electrophysiology, genetics, neuroanatomy, animal behavior, and molecular biology. For many years it was also the home of neuroscience education on the IUPUI campus. In 2014 the IPR building was demolished as part of the construction of Eskenazi hospital to replace the venerable Wishard hospital campus. IPR faculty relocated to the IU Neuroscience Building at 320 West 15th Street, where they now continue their work along with researchers at Stark Neurosciences Research Institute and other departments. Former IPR faculty Debomoy Lahiri and John Nurnberger have assembled a history of IPR along with illustrations of the building and the faculty and staff who worked there and contributed significantly to psychiatric research.Item Characterisation of age and polarity at onset in bipolar disorder(Cambridge University Press, 2021-12) Kalman, Janos L.; Olde Loohuis, Loes M.; Vreeker, Annabel; McQuillin, Andrew; Stahl, Eli A.; Ruderfer, Douglas; Grigoroiu-Serbanescu, Maria; Panagiotaropoulou, Georgia; Ripke, Stephan; Bigdeli, Tim B.; Stein, Frederike; Meller, Tina; Meinert, Susanne; Pelin, Helena; Streit, Fabian; Papiol, Sergi; Adams, Mark J.; Adolfsson, Rolf; Adorjan, Kristina; Agartz, Ingrid; Aminoff, Sofie R.; Anderson-Schmidt, Heike; Andreassen, Ole A.; Ardau, Raffaella; Aubry, Jean-Michel; Balaban, Ceylan; Bass, Nicholas; Baune, Bernhard T.; Bellivier, Frank; Benabarre, Antoni; Bengesser, Susanne; Berrettini, Wade H.; Boks, Marco P.; Bromet, Evelyn J.; Brosch, Katharina; Budde, Monika; Byerley, William; Cervantes, Pablo; Chillotti, Catina; Cichon, Sven; Clark, Scott R.; Comes, Ashley L.; Corvin, Aiden; Coryell, William; Craddock, Nick; Craig, David W.; Croarkin, Paul E.; Cruceanu, Cristiana; Czerski, Piotr M.; Dalkner, Nina; Dannlowski, Udo; Degenhardt, Franziska; Del Zompo, Maria; DePaulo, J. Raymond; Djurovic, Srdjan; Edenberg, Howard J.; Al Eissa, Mariam; Elvsåshagen, Torbjørn; Etain, Bruno; Fanous, Ayman H.; Fellendorf, Frederike; Fiorentino, Alessia; Forstner, Andreas J.; Frye, Mark A.; Fullerton, Janice M.; Gade, Katrin; Garnham, Julie; Gershon, Elliot; Gill, Michael; Goes, Fernando S.; Gordon-Smith, Katherine; Grof, Paul; Guzman-Parra, Jose; Hahn, Tim; Hasler, Roland; Heilbronner, Maria; Heilbronner, Urs; Jamain, Stephane; Jimenez, Esther; Jones, Ian; Jones, Lisa; Jonsson, Lina; Kahn, Rene S.; Kelsoe, John R.; Kennedy, James L.; Kircher, Tilo; Kirov, George; Kittel-Schneider, Sarah; Klöhn-Saghatolislam, Farah; Knowles, James A.; Kranz, Thorsten M.; Lagerberg, Trine Vik; Landen, Mikael; Lawson, William B.; Leboyer, Marion; Li, Qingqin S.; Maj, Mario; Malaspina, Dolores; Manchia, Mirko; Mayoral, Fermin; McElroy, Susan L.; McInnis, Melvin G.; McIntosh, Andrew M.; Medeiros, Helena; Melle, Ingrid; Milanova, Vihra; Mitchell, Philip B.; Monteleone, Palmiero; Monteleone, Alessio Maria; Nöthen, Markus M.; Novak, Tomas; Nurnberger, John I.; O'Brien, Niamh; O'Connell, Kevin S.; O'Donovan, Claire; O'Donovan, Michael C.; Opel, Nils; Ortiz, Abigail; Owen, Michael J.; Pålsson, Erik; Pato, Carlos; Pato, Michele T.; Pawlak, Joanna; Pfarr, Julia-Katharina; Pisanu, Claudia; Potash, James B.; Rapaport, Mark H.; Reich-Erkelenz, Daniela; Reif, Andreas; Reininghaus, Eva; Repple, Jonathan; Richard-Lepouriel, Hélène; Rietschel, Marcella; Ringwald, Kai; Roberts, Gloria; Rouleau, Guy; Schaupp, Sabrina; Scheftner, William A.; Schmitt, Simon; Schofield, Peter R.; Schubert, K. Oliver; Schulte, Eva C.; Schweizer, Barbara; Senner, Fanny; Severino, Giovanni; Sharp, Sally; Slaney, Claire; Smeland, Olav B.; Sobell, Janet L.; Squassina, Alessio; Stopkova, Pavla; Strauss, John; Tortorella, Alfonso; Turecki, Gustavo; Twarowska-Hauser, Joanna; Veldic, Marin; Vieta, Eduard; Vincent, John B.; Xu, Wei; Zai, Clement C.; Zandi, Peter P.; Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) Bipolar Disorder Working Group; International Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLiGen); Colombia-US Cross Disorder Collaboration in Psychiatric Genetics; Di Florio, Arianna; Smoller, Jordan W.; Biernacka, Joanna M.; McMahon, Francis J.; Alda, Martin; Müller-Myhsok, Bertram; Koutsouleris, Nikolaos; Falkai, Peter; Freimer, Nelson B.; Andlauer, Till F.M.; Schulze, Thomas G.; Ophoff, Roel A.; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of MedicineBackground: Studying phenotypic and genetic characteristics of age at onset (AAO) and polarity at onset (PAO) in bipolar disorder can provide new insights into disease pathology and facilitate the development of screening tools. Aims: To examine the genetic architecture of AAO and PAO and their association with bipolar disorder disease characteristics. Method: Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) and polygenic score (PGS) analyses of AAO (n = 12 977) and PAO (n = 6773) were conducted in patients with bipolar disorder from 34 cohorts and a replication sample (n = 2237). The association of onset with disease characteristics was investigated in two of these cohorts. Results: Earlier AAO was associated with a higher probability of psychotic symptoms, suicidality, lower educational attainment, not living together and fewer episodes. Depressive onset correlated with suicidality and manic onset correlated with delusions and manic episodes. Systematic differences in AAO between cohorts and continents of origin were observed. This was also reflected in single-nucleotide variant-based heritability estimates, with higher heritabilities for stricter onset definitions. Increased PGS for autism spectrum disorder (β = -0.34 years, s.e. = 0.08), major depression (β = -0.34 years, s.e. = 0.08), schizophrenia (β = -0.39 years, s.e. = 0.08), and educational attainment (β = -0.31 years, s.e. = 0.08) were associated with an earlier AAO. The AAO GWAS identified one significant locus, but this finding did not replicate. Neither GWAS nor PGS analyses yielded significant associations with PAO. Conclusions: AAO and PAO are associated with indicators of bipolar disorder severity. Individuals with an earlier onset show an increased polygenic liability for a broad spectrum of psychiatric traits. Systematic differences in AAO across cohorts, continents and phenotype definitions introduce significant heterogeneity, affecting analyses.Item Characteristics of Bipolar I patients grouped by externalizing disorders(Elsevier, 2015-06-01) Swaminathan, Shanker; Koller, Daniel L.; Foroud, Tatiana; Edenberg, Howard J.; Xuei, Xiaoling; Niculescu, Alexander B.; Bipolar Genome Study (BiGS) Consortium; Nurnberger, John I.; Department of Psychiatry, IU School of MedicineBACKGROUND: Bipolar disorder co-occurs with a number of disorders with externalizing features. The aim of this study is to determine whether Bipolar I (BPI) subjects with comorbid externalizing disorders and a subgroup with externalizing symptoms prior to age 15 have different clinical features than those without externalizing disorders and whether these could be attributed to specific genetic variations. METHODS: A large cohort (N=2505) of Bipolar I subjects was analyzed. Course of illness parameters were compared between an Externalizing Group, an Early-Onset Subgroup and a Non-Externalizing Group in the Discovery sample (N=1268). Findings were validated using an independent set of 1237 BPI subjects (Validation sample). Genetic analyses were carried out. RESULTS: Subjects in the Externalizing Group (and Early-Onset Subgroup) tended to have a more severe clinical course, even in areas specifically related to mood disorder such as cycling frequency and rapid mood switching. Regression analysis showed that the differences are not completely explainable by substance use. Genetic analyses identified nominally associated SNPs; calcium channel genes were not enriched in the gene variants identified. LIMITATIONS: Validation in independent samples is needed to confirm the genetic findings in the present study. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the presence of an externalizing disorder subphenotype within BPI with greater severity of mood disorder and possible specific genetic features.Item Circadian rhythms in bipolar disorder patient-derived neurons predict lithium response: Preliminary studies(Springer Nature, 2021) Mishra, Himanshu K.; Ying, Noelle M.; Luis, Angelica; Wei, Heather; Nguyen, Metta; Nakhla, Timothy; Vandenburgh, Sara; Alda, Martin; Berrettini, Wade H.; Brennand, Kristen J.; Calabrese, Joseph R.; Coryell, William H.; Frye, Mark A.; Gage, Fred H.; Gershon, Elliot S.; McInnis, Melvin G.; Nievergelt, Caroline M.; Nurnberger, John I.; Shilling, Paul D.; Oedegaard, Ketil J.; Zandi, Peter P.; The Pharmacogenomics of Bipolar Disorder Study; Kelsoe, John R.; Welsh, David K.; McCarthy, Michael J.; Psychiatry, School of MedicineBipolar disorder (BD) is a neuropsychiatric illness defined by recurrent episodes of mania/hypomania, depression and circadian rhythm abnormalities. Lithium is an effective drug for BD, but 30–40% of patients fail to respond adequately to treatment. Previous work has demonstrated that lithium affects the expression of “clock genes” and that lithium responders (Li-R) can be distinguished from non-responders (Li-NR) by differences in circadian rhythms. However, circadian rhythms have not been evaluated in BD patient neurons from Li-R and Li-NR. We used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to culture neuronal precursor cells (NPC) and glutamatergic neurons from BD patients characterized for lithium responsiveness and matched controls. We identified strong circadian rhythms in Per2-luc expression in NPCs and neurons from controls and Li-R, but NPC rhythms in Li-R had a shorter circadian period. Li-NR rhythms were low-amplitude and profoundly weakened. In NPCs and neurons, expression of PER2 was higher in both BD groups compared to controls. In neurons, PER2 protein levels were higher in BD than controls, especially in Li-NR samples. In single cells, NPC and neuron rhythms in both BD groups were desynchronized compared to controls. Lithium lengthened period in Li-R and control neurons but failed to alter rhythms in Li-NR. In contrast, temperature entrainment increased amplitude across all groups, and partly restored rhythms in Li-NR neurons. We conclude that neuronal circadian rhythm abnormalities are present in BD and most pronounced in Li-NR. Rhythm deficits in BD may be partly reversible through stimulation of entrainment pathways.Item Clinical predictors of non-response to lithium treatment in the Pharmacogenomics of Bipolar Disorder (PGBD) study(Wiley, 2021) Lin, Yian; Maihofer, Adam X.; Stapp, Emma; Ritchey, Megan; Alliey‐Rodriguez, Ney; Anand, Amit; Balaraman, Yokesh; Berrettini, Wade H.; Bertram, Holli; Bhattacharjee, Abesh; Calkin, Cynthia V.; Conroy, Carla; Coryell, William; D'Arcangelo, Nicole; DeModena, Anna; Biernacka, Joanna M.; Fisher, Carrie; Frazier, Nicole; Frye, Mark; Gao, Keming; Garnham, Julie; Gershon, Elliot; Glazer, Kara; Goes, Fernando S.; Goto, Toyomi; Karberg, Elizabeth; Harrington, Gloria; Jakobsen, Petter; Kamali, Masoud; Kelly, Marisa; Leckband, Susan G.; Lohoff, Falk W.; Stautland, Andrea; McCarthy, Michael J.; McInnis, Melvin G.; Mondimore, Francis; Morken, Gunnar; Nurnberger, John I.; Oedegaard, Ketil J.; Syrstad, Vigdis Elin Giever; Ryan, Kelly; Schinagle, Martha; Schoeyen, Helle; Andreassen, Ole A.; Shaw, Marth; Shilling, Paul D.; Slaney, Claire; Tarwater, Bruce; Calabrese, Joseph R.; Alda, Martin; Nievergelt, Caroline M.; Zandi, Peter P.; Kelsoe, John R.; Psychiatry, School of MedicineBackground Lithium is regarded as a first-line treatment for bipolar disorder (BD), but partial response and non-response commonly occurs. There exists a need to identify lithium non-responders prior to initiating treatment. The Pharmacogenomics of Bipolar Disorder (PGBD) Study was designed to identify predictors of lithium response. Methods The PGBD Study was an eleven site prospective trial of lithium treatment in bipolar I disorder. Subjects were stabilized on lithium monotherapy over 4 months and gradually discontinued from all other psychotropic medications. After ensuring a sustained clinical remission (defined by a score of ≤3 on the CGI for 4 weeks) had been achieved, subjects were followed for up to 2 years to monitor clinical response. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the relationship between clinical measures and time until failure to remit or relapse. Results A total of 345 individuals were enrolled into the study and included in the analysis. Of these, 101 subjects failed to remit or relapsed, 88 achieved remission and continued to study completion, and 156 were terminated from the study for other reasons. Significant clinical predictors of treatment failure (p < 0.05) included baseline anxiety symptoms, functional impairments, negative life events and lifetime clinical features such as a history of migraine, suicidal ideation/attempts, and mixed episodes, as well as a chronic course of illness. Conclusions In this PGBD Study of lithium response, several clinical features were found to be associated with failure to respond to lithium. Future validation is needed to confirm these clinical predictors of treatment failure and their use clinically to distinguish who will do well on lithium before starting pharmacotherapy.