Bimodal effect of lithium plasma levels on hippocampal glutamate concentrations in bipolar II depression: a pilot study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The hippocampus has been highly implicated in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD). Nevertheless, no study has longitudinally evaluated hippocampal metabolite levels in bipolar depression under treatment with lithium.

Methods

Nineteen medication-free BD patients (78.9% treatment-naïve and 73.7% with BD type II) presenting an acute depressive episode and 17 healthy controls were studied. Patients were treated for 6 weeks with lithium in an open-label trial. N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), creatine, choline, myo-Inositol, and glutamate levels were assessed in the left hippocampus before (week 0) and after (week 6) lithium treatment using 3T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). The metabolite concentrations were estimated using internal water as referen

SUBMITTER: Zanetti MV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4438538 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature