ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Several studies suggested that cytokines could be involved in the pathogenesis of mood disorders, while data for bipolar disorder is relatively deficient (BD). BD, Knowned to have a inherited tendency, has been considered to be related with T-helper cell system. This study was designed to investigate the association between polymorphism of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP1) gene at promoter -2518 and BD. METHODS: Patients with BD (n=92) in accordance with DSM-IV criteria and control subjects (n=114) participated in this study. DNA was extracted from whole blood and the MCP-1 gene promoter region was amplified by polymerase chain reaction-based method. RESULTS: Genotype and allele distributions in patients with BD were not different from those of control subjects (p=0.587; p=0.384). Genotype and allele distributions in accordance to presence or absence of suicide attempt (p=0.423), family history (p=0.733) and psychotic feature (p=0.436) were not different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Present study suggests that the MCP1 promoter -2518 polymorphism may not affect the susceptibility and clinical diversity of the development of BD.