Homocysteine, chronotype and clinical course in bipolar disorder patients

Abstract

Purpose: Higher homocysteine (HHcy) levels have been detected in bipolar disorder (BD) patients, and BD patients show circadian rhythm disorders even during remission. Here, we determined the homocysteine (Hcy) levels and chronotype of patients with BD during remission and investigated whether this was related to the clinical course of the disease.

Materials and methods: In total, 80 BD outpatients were included. Clinical evaluation was conducted using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ). Hcy, folic acid, vitamin B12 levels and protein consumption the day before clinical evaluation were measured.

Results and conclusions: HHcy was found in 11 patients (8.8%), most of whom were males (n = 8, 72.7%). During the course of BD, patients with HHcy had significantly more mixed episodes than patients without HHcy (p = .007, z = −2696). In addition, patients with HHcy had significantly lower MEQ scores than patients without HHcy (p = .04, t = 2018). There was no significant difference in chronotype between patients with and without HHcy. The HHcy group had significantly lower levels of vitamin B12 (p = .003, t = 2870). There were no statistically significant differences in daily protein intake and folic acid levels between HHcy and non-HHcy groups. Our study showed a significant relationship between the number of mixed episodes and HHcy. In terms of potential confounds, patients who abused alcohol were excluded, but alcohol consumption was not evaluated. This result should be considered in BD and should be evaluated in larger samples of BD patients.

Keywords:

• Bipolar disorder
• homocysteine
• chronotype
• clinical course

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

During the writing of this article, the following authors moved to other institutions:

• Dr. Meral Gunes Ozdogan moved to Derince Training and Research Hospital, Kocaeli, Turkey.

• Dr. Mehmet Fatih Ustundag moved to Erenköy Mental Health and Neurological Disease Research and Training Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, İstanbul, Turkey.

• Dr. Elif Oral moved to İzmir Katip Çelebi University Medical Faculty, Department of Psychiatry, İzmir, Turkey.