Bipolar disorder and brain inflammation

Neuroinflammation is being recognized as a fundamental cause for a range of psychiatric disorders. A paper recently published in the journal European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience is a reminder that treatment for bipolar disorder is incomplete with addressing inflammation in the brain. The authors state:

"Bipolar disorder (BD) has been associated with a proinflammatory state in which TNF-α seems to play a relevant role. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the plasma levels of TNF-α and its soluble receptors (sTNFR1 and sTNFR2) in BD patients in mania and euthymia in comparison with control subjects."

(TNF-α is a major proinflammatory cytokine.) As the data emerged they saw that:

"...higher sTNFR1 levels were found in BD patients. Of note, BD patients in mania had higher sTNFR1 levels than BD patients in euthymia and controls. The sTNFR1 and sTNFR2 levels correlated with BD duration, and sTNFR2 levels correlated with age of patients."

The authors announce in their conclusion that:

"Our data indicate a proinflammatory status in BD patients during mania and further suggest that inflammatory mechanisms may be involved with the physiopathology of BD."

The functional approach to BD, major depressive disorder, OCD, schizophrenia, and many more brain-based diagnoses must include a careful evaluation of each case for neuroinflammation and its causes.