Since mood stabilizers have been shown to affect miR-34a expression24, 25, 54, we segregated BD individuals based on whether or not they were under treatment with mood stabilizer medications (Figure 1B) and observed a significant increase in miR-34a expression only in BD individuals without treatment, suggesting a potential normalizing effect on miR-34a expression following treatment (Figure 1B). Interestingly, a significant correlation between age of onset of the disease and psychotic symptoms on miR-34a levels was observed (Figures S1D and S1E), without evidence for interaction of other confounding factors (Table S1, Figures S1F-H). Although sex differences did not significantly affect miR-34a levels in healthy control samples (data not shown), there was a more robust increase in miR-34a in female BD patients (Figure S1I).
