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Mania: gender, transmitter function, and response to treatment
A C Swann1, F Petty, C L Bowden
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas-Houston Medical School, 77030, USA. aswann@msi.uth.tmc.edu
Psychiatry Research
|January 21, 2000
Summary
This study found that gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels relate to mania severity, particularly in women. Norepinephrine metabolite levels (MHPG) correlated with treatment response, suggesting distinct roles in mania.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Noradrenergic and GABA systems are implicated in mania.
- Limited data exist on their functional relationship with antimanic treatment response.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the link between catecholamine and GABA system function, mania severity, and response to antimanic drugs.
- To explore potential biomarkers for treatment response.
Main Methods:
- Patients hospitalized for mania provided plasma GABA and urinary catecholamine metabolite samples pre-treatment.
- Mania severity was assessed using SADS-C scales.
- Multiple regression analyses examined relationships between biochemical markers, mania severity, and treatment response.
Main Results:
- Pretreatment plasma GABA levels correlated with manic symptom severity, with a stronger association observed in women.
- Urinary MHPG levels, a norepinephrine metabolite, correlated with improvements in manic syndrome scores.
- These findings suggest distinct roles for GABA and norepinephrine in the pathophysiology and treatment sensitivity of mania.
Conclusions:
- GABA system function may be associated with the severity of manic symptoms.
- Norepinephrine system function, indicated by MHPG, might predict response to antimanic treatments.
- These neurotransmitter systems could be differentially involved in various aspects of mania and its pharmacologic management.