title: Bcl-2 associated with severity of manic symptoms in bipolar patients in a manic phase.
abstract: B cell lymphoma protein-2 (Bcl-2) may contribute to the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder, and may be involved in the therapeutic action of anti-manic drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate serum levels of Bcl-2 in bipolar patients in a manic phase, and evaluate the Bcl-2 changes after treatment. We consecutively enrolled 23 bipolar inpatients in a manic phase and 40 healthy subjects; 20 bipolar patients were followed up with treatment. Serum Bcl-2 levels were measured with assay kits. All 20 patients were evaluated by examining the correlation between Bcl-2 levels and Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) scores, using Spearman׳s correlation coefficients. The serum Bcl-2 levels in bipolar patients in a manic phase were higher than in healthy subjects, but without a significant difference. The YMRS scores were significantly negatively associated with serum Bcl-2 levels (p=0.042). Bcl-2 levels of the 20 bipolar patients were measured at the end of treatment. Using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test, we found no significant difference in the Bcl-2 levels of bipolar patients after treatment. Our results suggest that Bcl-2 levels might be an indicator of severity of manic symptoms in bipolar patients in a manic phase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Zuoying Armed Forces, General Hospital, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Ting
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tiao-Lai
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Electronic address: water444@ms21.hinet.net.
authors.forename: Meng-Chang
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018692:Antimanic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000097:blood*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018692:Antimanic Agents; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2
keywords: Bcl-2; Bipolar; Mania; YMRS