Evaluation of oxidative metabolism and urotensin-II levels in patients with bipolar disorder mani

Objective: In this study we aimed to investigate the levels of oxidative metabolism and urotensin II (U-II) levels in euthymic bipolar patients.

Methods: Sixty patients who were diagnosed with bipolar disorders in remission period according to DSM-IV TR and 57 healthy controls were recruited into this study. The levels of total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), oxidative stress index (OSI), nitric oxide (NO), and U-II were calculated in the laboratory of the Department of Biochemistry in Gaziantep University.

Results: When the levels of patients’ and healthy controls’ TOS, OSI and NO compared, patients had significantly higher levels whereas healthy controls’ U-II and TAS levels were significantly lower than patients’ (p values: 0.005, 0.001, 0.001, 0.001 and 0.004, respectively).

Conclusion: The relationship between the effects of U-II on behavior, physiology (sleep…etc.), and oxidative metabolism has been shown in animal studies. The results of this study can be interpreted to mean that U-II molecules may play an important role in the clinical picture of bipolar manic patients and the oxidative metabolism related with the disorder. There is a need for the continuation of preclinical studies that are related with the exact role of U-II in central nervous system and clinical studies that investigate different episodes of bipolar patients as well as those in remission with large sample size.