The appropriate therapeutic serum valproate level in maintenance therapy for bipolar disorder is not well known. We studied the serum valproate levels in seventeen bipolar I and twenty-four bipolar II disorder outpatients who had been treated with stable doses of valproate successfully for at least 12 months as prophylactic therapy. The trough serum valproate levels were 52.2 +/- 20.4 microg/ml...

Bipolar disorder is characterized by a hypersensitivity to reward-relevant cues and a propensity to experience an excessive increase in approach-related affect, which may be reflected in hypo/manic symptoms. The present study examined the relationship between relative left-frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, a proposed neurophysiological index of approach-system sensitivity and appr...

In executive function, specifically in response inhibition, numerous studies support the essential role for the inferior frontal cortex (IFC). Hypoactivation of the IFC during response-inhibition tasks has been found consistently in subjects with bipolar disorder during manic and euthymic states. The aim of this study was to examine whether reduced IFC activation also exists in unmedicated subj...

objective: bipolar i disorder is a common disorder with a complex etiology. a genetic approach is gaining increasing importance in this disorder. the dysbindin gene, located at 6p22.3 is considered a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia. certain genotypes of dysbindin are thought to be associated with other psychoses such as bipolar disorders. this study intends to assess the association in pr...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the impact of insulin resistance on bipolar disorder. AIMS To examine the relationships between insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and clinical course and treatment outcomes in bipolar disorder. METHOD We measured fasting glucose and insulin in 121 adults with bipolar disorder. We diagnosed type 2 diabetes and determined insulin resistance. The National Ins...

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that lithium increases choline concentrations, although previous human studies examining this possibility using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) have had mixed results: some found increases while most found no differences. METHODS: The present study utilized 1H MRS, in a 3 T scanner to examine the effects of both lithium and sodium valproate upon cho...

Study selection and analysis: Eligible studies compared people with rapid cycling (>4 mood episodes/year) and non-rapid cycling bipolar disorder; clearly described selection of participants, diagnostic criteria, stated whether rapid cycling was lifetime or current and assessed 18 potential risk factors (reported by at least three studies) associated with rapid cycling. Studies in that only sele...

BACKGROUND Depression and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are both extremely prevalent diseases. Studies aimed at evaluating whether depression is an independent risk factor for cardiac events provided no definitive results. In most of these studies, depression has been broadly defined with no differentiation between unipolar (MDD) versus bipolar forms (BD). The aim of this study was to evaluate ...

Bipolar-related subphenotypes that cluster within families may help identify subsets of patients that are more genetically homogeneous. Environmental or assessment factors that segregate by family may influence estimates of familiality. We aimed to determine familiality of subphenotypes of bipolar disorder (BP), accounting for effects of age, sex, diagnosis, and site/wave of ascertainment. We s...