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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Developing a Rat Model for Bipolar Disorder

Developing a Rat Model for Bipolar Disorder

Published on: May 2, 2025

Brain lipid concentrations in bipolar disorder.

Miki Igarashi¹, Kaizong Ma, Fei Gao

¹Brain Physiology and Metabolism Section, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. miki.i@uci.edu

Journal of Psychiatric Research

|September 22, 2009

Summary

This study found no significant differences in brain concentrations of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or arachidonic acid (AA) in bipolar disorder (BD) patients compared to controls. These findings do not support the hypothesis of disturbed brain lipid levels in BD.

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Developing a Rat Model for Bipolar Disorder

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Lipidomics and Transcriptomics in Neurological Diseases

Lipidomics and Transcriptomics in Neurological Diseases

Published on: March 18, 2022

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Biochemistry
Psychiatry

Background:

Previous studies suggested reduced docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) in bipolar disorder (BD) brains.
Low fish intake and DHA supplementation have been linked to BD prevalence and symptom severity, implying altered brain lipid metabolism.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if brain concentrations of DHA and AA are altered in postmortem bipolar disorder (BD) brains.
To test the hypothesis of disturbed brain lipid metabolism in BD.

Main Methods:

Quantification of various lipids, including DHA and AA, in postmortem frontal cortex from BD patients and matched controls.
Analysis of stable lipids, unesterified fatty acids, and esterified fatty acids using internal standards.

Main Results:

No statistically significant differences in mean concentrations of total lipids, phospholipids, cholesterol, unesterified fatty acids, or esterified DHA and AA were observed between BD and control groups.
Fractional concentrations of esterified AA and DHA also did not differ significantly.
Minor differences in fatty acid concentrations were noted in cholesteryl esters, which are low-abundance lipids.

Conclusions:

The study's findings do not support the hypothesis of disturbed brain lipid concentrations, including DHA and AA, in bipolar disorder.
Further research using techniques like positron emission tomography may be needed to explore potential disturbances in brain AA and DHA kinetics in BD.