Enzyme discovery leads to drugs that could help treat bipolar disorder

Around one in 100 people suffer from bipolar disorders which lead to mood swings between mania and depression. Although the causes remain unclear, it often runs in families but drug treatments are limited.

Studies have shown levels of an enzyme known as NKA could be abnormal in sufferers, prompting researchers at Leeds University to carry out tests on mice bred with a mutation that prevents the enzyme working properly. The mice were given two drugs which appeared to reduce their manic behaviour.

Pharmacology lecturer Steve Clapcote, who led the study, said there was enough evidence from the tests to start screening people with the disorder for genetic mutations in the same enzyme.

“This will help us identify whether there is a group of bipolar patients that may be responsive to the novel treatments we have tested in the mice,” he said.

Psychiatrist Tariq Mahmood, who runs a bipolar disorders clinic in Leeds, said the research would hopefully lead to the development of tests that will enable early diagnosis and discovery of new drugs.