Outcome and predictors of remission in bipolar-I patients experiencing manic episode and treated with oral antipsychotics and/or mood stabilizers: a prospective observational study in Italy

How effective are mood stabilizers in treating bipolar patients comorbid with cPTSD? Results from an observational study

BACKGROUND

Multiple traumatic experiences, particularly in childhood, may predict and be a risk factor for the development of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (cPTSD). Unfortunately, individuals with bipolar disorder (BP) are more likely to have suffered traumatic events than the general population. Consequently, cPTSD could be comorbid with BD, and this may negatively affect psychopathological manifestations. To date, no one has explored whether such comorbidity also affects the response to treatment with mood stabilizers in BD patients.

RESULTS

Here, a cross-sectional study was carried out by comparing the response to treatment, measured by the Alda scale, in a cohort of 344 patients diagnosed with BD type I and II, screened for the presence (or absence) of cPTSD using the International Trauma Questionnaire. The main result that emerged from the present study is the poorer response to mood stabilizers in BD patients with comorbid cPTSD compared with BD patients without cPTSD.

CONCLUSIONS

The results collected suggest the need for an add-on therapy focused on trauma in BD patients. This could represent an area of future interest in clinical research, capable of leading to more precise and quicker diagnoses as well as suggesting better tailored and more effective treatments.

Diet and physical activity and metabolic disorders in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder in the Polish population

Introduction

There are numerous reports of a higher prevalence of metabolic disorders in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BD), yet its connections to diet and physical activity remain not fully explained. This article aimed to evaluate diet, physical activity and selected biochemical and anthropometric parameters associated with metabolism in patients with schizophrenia and BD and to analyse the relationships between these variables in the subjects.

Materials and Methods

A total of 126 adults participated in the study: 47 patients with schizophrenia, 54 patients with BD and 25 patients in mental illness remission (reference group). Data were collected on the underlying illness and concomitant illnesses, and the severity of symptoms of the current episode was assessed using the following scales: PANSS, MADRS and YMRS. An assessment of the subjects' diet (KomPAN questionnaire) and their physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire) was carried out. Anthropometric and blood pressure measurements were taken and BMI and WHR were calculated. Serum concentrations of fasting glucose, TSH, total cholesterol, LDL and HDL fractions, triglycerides and leptin, ghrelin and resistin were determined. For statistical analysis, the significance level was set at 0.05. For multiple comparisons one way ANOVA or Kruskal Wallis were used with post hoc Tukey and Dunn tests, respectively. To determine correlation of variables, Pearson's linear correlation coefficient or Spearman's rank correlation coefficient were used.

Results

A total of 50.8% of the subjects had at least one metabolic disorder-most commonly excessive body weight (66.7%) and abdominal obesity (64.3%). Patients did not differ significantly in terms of physical activity, but they did differ in mean time spent sitting-with this being significantly longer for all groups than in the general population. The subjects differed in diet: patients with BD consumed less unhealthy foods than patients with schizophrenia. The highest correlations between physical activity, diet and variables defining metabolic disorders were found in patients with BD. Only in patients with schizophrenia were there significant correlations between the course of the disease and physical activity.

Discussion

The results suggest the existence of associations between diet, physical activity, and metabolic disorders in both BD and schizophrenia patients. They also suggest a tendency among those patients to spend long periods of time sitting.

Childhood trauma and treatment outcomes during mood-stabilising treatment with lithium or quetiapine among outpatients with bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND

Childhood trauma affects the course of mood disorders. Researchers are now considering childhood trauma as an influential factor in the treatment of mood disorders. However, the role of childhood trauma in the treatment of bipolar disorder remains understudied.

METHODS

The effect of childhood trauma on treatment outcomes was evaluated among participants randomised to treatment with lithium or quetiapine in the Clinical and Health Outcomes Initiatives in Comparative Effectiveness for Bipolar Disorder (Bipolar CHOICE) study by clinician assessment. Mixed effects linear regression models were used to analyse rates of improvement in symptom severity (assessed with the Bipolar Inventory of Symptoms Scale and the Clinical Global Impression Scale for Bipolar Disorder) and functional impairment (assessed with the Longitudinal Interval Follow-up Evaluation-Range of Impaired Functioning Tool).

RESULTS

A history of any childhood trauma was reported by 52.7% of the sample (N = 476). Although participants with a history of any childhood trauma presented with greater symptom severity and functional impairment at most study visits, participants with and without a history of any childhood trauma showed similar rates of improvement in symptom severity and functional impairment over the 24 weeks of treatment.

CONCLUSION

This is the first study to explore the association between childhood trauma and treatment outcomes during treatment with lithium or quetiapine in the context of a randomised trial. In Bipolar CHOICE, a history of childhood trauma did not inhibit improvement in symptom severity or functional impairment. Nevertheless, these findings need replication across different settings.

The influence of childhood trauma on the treatment outcomes of pharmacological and/or psychological interventions for adolescents and adults with bipolar disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

The influence of childhood trauma on the treatment outcomes of pharmacological and/or psychological interventions for adolescents and adults with bipolar disorder was systematically reviewed.

METHODS

Randomised and non-randomised studies of interventions for bipolar disorder that included an assessment of childhood trauma were eligible. MEDLINE Complete, Embase, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched. Two independent reviewers completed the screening and extraction process. Two independent reviewers assessed the risk of bias in the included studies using the Cochrane Collaboration's Risk of Bias tool and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Alongside a narrative synthesis, random-effects meta-analyses were performed.

RESULTS

Twelve studies (1175 participants) were included. The narrative review highlighted differential treatment outcomes among individuals with a history of childhood trauma. The meta-analyses suggested that childhood trauma was unrelated to treatment response (five studies, 426 participants; odds ratio 0.58, 95% CI 0.27-1.25, p = .164) but may be associated with greater improvement in global functioning (three studies, 210 participants; Hedge's g 0.65, 95% CI 0.04-1.26, p = .037).

LIMITATIONS

The impact of childhood trauma on the effectiveness of specific pharmacological/psychological interventions could not be explored due to the small body of research identified.

CONCLUSION

The overall quality of the extant evidence is low, which precludes definitive comment on the role of childhood trauma in the treatment of bipolar disorder. Additional research that uses large and representative samples is required to ascertain whether a history of childhood trauma affects the treatment outcomes of interventions for individuals with bipolar disorder.

Stabilization Beyond Mood: Stabilizing Patients With Bipolar Disorder in the Various Phases of Life

BACKGROUND

There are different ways to define stabilization and currently, the main standpoint regards it as no-depression/no-mania. Furthermore, each person is physiologically different from childhood to adulthood, and in old age, thus the meaning of stabilization should take into account both growth and maturity. We aimed to review systematically studies focusing on mood stabilization in all phases of bipolar disorder (BD) and across all life phases, including pregnancy and the perinatal period, which is still a different phase in women's life cycles.

METHODS

We carried out a PubMed search focusing on studies of bipolar disorder treated with drugs and aimed at stabilization with the following search strategy stabiliz*[ti] OR stabilis*[ti] OR stable[ti] OR stability[ti]) AND mood[ti] AND bipolar. In conducting our review, we followed the PRISMA statement. Agreement on inclusion was reached by consensus of all authors through a Delphi rounds procedure.

RESULTS

The above search strategy produced 509 records on January 25, 2020. Of them, 58 fitted our inclusion criteria and were discussed. The eligible studies spanned from September 1983 to July 6, 2019.

CONCLUSIONS

No clear-cut indications could be drawn due to a number of limitations involving sample inconsistency and different methods of assessing mood stabilization. The evidence collected so far does not allow recommended treatments for Adolescents, pregnant or perinatal women, and aged patients. However, adults, not within these groups, better focused upon. For their manic/mixed phases, second generation antipsychotic drugs may be useful in the short-to-medium run, alone or combined with mood stabilizers (MSs). However, MSs, and especially lithium, continue to be pivotal in chronic treatment. Bipolar depression should rely on MSs, but an antidepressant may be added on and can prove to be helpful. However, there are concerns with the tendency of antidepressants to induce the opposite polarity or mood instability, rendering the need for concurrent MS prescription mandatory.