title: Mood stabilizers for patients with bipolar disorder: the state of the art.
abstract: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a prevalent and disabling condition, often comorbid with other medical and psychiatric conditions and frequently misdiagnosed. International treatment guidelines for BD recommend the use of mood stabilizers - either in monotherapy or in association - as the gold standard in both acute and long-term therapy. Commonly used in the clinical practice of BD, mood stabilizers have represented an evolving field over the last few years. The concept of stabilization, in fact, has been stressed as the ultimate objective of the treatment of BD, given the chronic and recurrent nature of the illness, which accounts for its significant levels of impairment and disability. To date, different compounds are included within the broad class of mood stabilizers, with lithium, anticonvulsants and, more recently, atypical antipsychotics being the most representative agents. This article is aimed at providing an updated review of the available literature in relation to the role of mood stabilizers in BD, with particular emphasis on their mechanism of action, main clinical aspects and specific use in the different phases of BD treatment, according to the most recently published international treatment guidelines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: A Carlo
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Altamura
authors.forename: Licia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lietti
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dobrea
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Benatti
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arici
authors.forename: Bernardo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dell'Osso
mesh_terms: D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018692:Antimanic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D018692:Antimanic Agents