title: A critical appraisal of X-linked bipolar illness. Evidence for the assumed mode of inheritance is lacking.
abstract: The major assumption underlying all X-linkage studies of bipolar disorder has been that a subgroup of manic-depressive illness follows an X-linked dominant mode of inheritance. An evaluation of the segregation patterns in the pedigrees that have been analysed for X-linkage over the past 20 years does not support this assumption, because the formal genetic criteria for an X-linked dominant mode of inheritance are virtually absent. Not a single pedigree has been ascertained in which the segregation pattern is suggestive of the assumed mode of inheritance. This is mainly because segregation ratios characteristic for X-linked dominant inheritance cannot be observed among the offspring of affected males.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie, Universität Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hebebrand
mesh_terms: D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D008040:Genetic Linkage / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D012729:Sex Chromosome Aberrations / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D014960:X Chromosome