Link Between Bipolar Disorder and ADD/ADHD.

MedWire (3/9, Grasm, http://tinyurl.com/bipolar-ADD) reports that, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry researchers found that adults with bipolar disorder often present with co-morbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).   “We suggest that in clinical practice, adult patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder [BD] should be assessed for possible underlying or comorbid ADHD, and vice versa,” say Anne Halmøy (University of Bergen, Norway) and colleagues.  A significant linear relationship between current symptoms of ADHD as measured by the ASRS and lifetime symptoms of Bipolar Disorder was observed. The researchers say that this finding may “support the hypothesis that mood symptoms are an inherent part of a syndrome shared a by a subgroup of adult ADHD patients.”  As mood instability appears to be an important clinical feature of ADHD in adults, diagnostic criteria may need to be revised to account for bipolar-like symptoms,” concludes the team in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

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Gene Associated With Bipolar Disorder in Children.

The UK’s Telegraph (http://tinyurl.com/child-bipolar-gene 11/12, Devlin) reported that, according to a study of nearly 300 children published in the journal BMC Psychiatry, researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered that “four different variants in” the RORB gene, which “disrupts the body’s natural internal clock,” were “strongly linked to” bipolar disorder. Study leader Alexander Niculescu, from Indiana University School of Medicine, in Indianapolis, said, “Our findings suggest that clock genes in general and RORB in particular may be important candidates for further investigation in the search for the molecular basis of bipolar disorder.”

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FDA approves generic version of lamotrigine.

Dow Jones Newswire ( 11/6  http://tinyurl.com/generic-lamictal) reports, “Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. said Friday it has received the final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for selling a generic version of the epilepsy” medication lamotrigine [Lamictal]. The FDA approval “is for 5-milligram and 25-mg tablets.” GlaxoSmithKline manufactures the brand name version of the medication.

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One Gene Associated With Both Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia

Mutations in the dystrobrevin binding protein 1 gene (DTNBP1), which has been known to be associated with schizophrenia, may also be associated with bipolar disorder (http://tinyurl.com/DTNBP1).   There has always been a suspicion that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may have a common genetic cause.   The DTNBP1 gene is a potential genetic link between the two disorders.  The gene codes for dystrobrevin binding protein 1. 

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Postpartum Bipolar II Disorder May be Mistakenly Diagnosed as Postpartum Depression.

Sharma et al published an article online Oct. 17 in the Journal of Affective Disorder(doi:10.1016/j.jad.2009.09.014) discussing the fact that bipolar II disorder may be underdiagnosed in postpartum women or misdiagnosed as unipolar depression.  After conducting a literature search “for relevant articles published between 1998 and 2009,” Canadian researchers found that “estimates of the prevalence of hypomania in non-clinical populations ranged from 9.6 percent to 20.4 percent on day three postpartum.” Moreover, nearly “20 percent of patients with hypomanic symptoms at day three postpartum developed postpartum depression in one study, with a significant proportion diagnosed with bipolar II disorder or bipolar disorder not otherwise specified.”

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Patients With Bipolar Disorder May be at Increased Risk of Suicide if They Smoke.

Medwire(Grasmo http://tinyurl.com/smoking-and-suicide) reports that, according to a study published online Oct. 14 in the journal Bipolar Disorders, “current cigarette smoking is a predictor for current and nine-month suicidal ideation and behavior in” patients with bipolar disorder (BD). After examining “the association between smoking, suicidality, and prospective suicide attempts in 116 BD patients over a nine-month period,” Harvard Medical School researchers found that smokers were “5.25-fold more likely to attempt suicide than nonsmokers (16.1 percent vs. 3.5 percent).”

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Psychiatric Illnesses May Share Common Genetic Variant.

Medwire (10/23, Davenport) reports, “Disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) gene variants play a role in the development of psychiatric illness yet there is significant heterogeneity in clinically relevant variants between populations,” according to a study  (http://tinyurl.com/DISC1-gene) in Molecular Psychiatry. “Although schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder (BD), major depression, autism, and Asperger syndrome have all been linked to DISC1, no actual causal variants have been identified.” But, after genotyping study participants “for the presence of 75 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the translin-associated protein X and DISC1 genes,” investigators discovered that “rs1538979 SNP was significantly associated with BD I males” and “the rs821577 SNP was significantly linked with BD females…at odds ratios of 2.73 and 1.64, respectively.”

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Inflammatory Markers May be Elevated in Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder.

 MedWire (10/22, Davenport) reports that, according to a study ( http://tinyurl.com/inflammation-in-mental-illness)  published online Oct. 14 in the journal Bipolar Disorders, patients with “bipolar disorder and schizophrenia” may “have specific significant increases in endothelium-related inflammatory markers in comparison with healthy individuals.” University of Oslo researchers “measured plasma soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (sTNF-R1), interleukin (IL)-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), IL-6, high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP), soluble CD40L ligand,” and “von Willebrand factor (vWF) levels in 125 bipolar disorder patients, 186 schizophrenia patients, and 244 healthy controls.” They found that “the combined patient groups had significantly higher plasma levels of sTNF-R1 and vWF compared with healthy controls, at increases of 17 percent and 27 percent, respectively,” as well as “significantly increased” hs-CRP levels.

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Small study suggests patients with bipolar I disorder may have melatonin super-sensitivity to light.

MedWire (10/15, Davenport) reports that “patients with bipolar I disorder have melatonin super-sensitivity to light compared with healthy individuals, which may serve as an endophenotypic marker for the condition,” according to a study published online Sept. 23 in the journal Acta Neuropsychiatrica. Investigators from Australia’s University of Melbourne “studied seven patients with bipolar I disorder and 34 healthy controls.” The researchers found that “during zero light conditions, there were no significant differences in the changes in melatonin levels between patients and controls,” but “during exposure to 200, 500, and 1000 lux, patients showed significantly more sensitivity to light than controls, with the sensitivity consistently elevated across the light–response curve.”

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Patients with euthymic bipolar disorder may have normalized serum BDNF levels, research suggests.

MedWire (9/15, Davenport) reports that, according to a study published in the journal Bipolar Disorders, “euthymic bipolar disorder patients have similar serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels to those of healthy individuals, supporting the theory that treatment normalizes levels of the neurotrophin.” For the study, researchers from Brazil’s Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre “used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure serum BDNF levels in 65 euthymic patients with bipolar I disorder and 50 healthy controls.” The team also “administered a neurocognitive battery to assess attention and mental control, perceptual-motor skills, executive function, verbal fluency, verbal abstraction, visuospatial attention, and memory function.” The investigators discovered “no significant differences in serum BDNF levels between patients and controls.”

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