Title:Exploring the Hypothesis of a Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Continuum:
Biological, Genetic and Pharmacologic Data
Volume: 22
Issue: 2
Author(s): Teresa Reynolds de Sousa*, Correia DT and Filipa Novais
Affiliation:
- Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health, Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte (CHULN), Hospital
de Santa Maria, Lisbon, Portugal;
Keywords:
Bipolar, schizophrenia, continuum, genetics, neurobiology, pharmacology.
Abstract: Present time nosology has its roots in Kraepelin’s demarcation of schizophrenia and
bipolar disorder. However, accumulating evidence has shed light on several commonalities between
the two disorders, and some authors have advocated for the consideration of a disease continuum.
Here, we review previous genetic, biological and pharmacological findings that provide the
basis for this conceptualization. There is a cross-disease heritability, and they share single-nucleotide
polymorphisms in some common genes. EEG and imaging patterns have a number of similarities,
namely reduced white matter integrity and abnormal connectivity. Dopamine, serotonin,
GABA and glutamate systems have dysfunctional features, some of which are identical among the
disorders. Finally, cellular calcium regulation and mitochondrial function are, also, impaired in the
two.