Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia: convergent molecular data.

Bipolar disorder (BPD) and schizophrenia (SZ) may have some common susceptibility genes, despite that current nosology separates them into nonoverlapping categories. The evidence for shared genetic factors includes epidemiologic characteristics, family studies, and overlap in confirmed linkages of BPD and/or SZ. Review of these data indicates that there are five genomic regions that may represent shared genetic susceptibility of BPD and SZ. As the genes underlying these confirmed linkages are identified, the current nosology must be changed to reflect the new knowledge concerning the shared etiologies of BPD and SZ.