Current Views on the Role of MicroRNAs in Psychosis

The psychotic disorders of schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder are severe and enduring medical conditions that typically have a natural course spanning many decades, oftentimes punctuated with frequent relapses requiring hospitalization. Current treatment regimens often include antipsychotic medications that target monoamine receptors. While these agents ameliorate symptoms and aid in relapse prevention, they are rarely curative. The clinical phenotype can have variable presentations, and miRNA studies are further adding to the depth of its biological complexity. Such research is providing a more comprehensive understanding of the pathophysiology, with postmortem studies indicating alterations in miR-181b and miR-195 in schizophrenia and miR219 in both schizophrenia and bipolar illness. This chapter looks at limitations in the current gold standard therapeutic options, their biological origins, and the potential role miRNA modulation in psychotic illness could play in future novel treatments.