Update on bipolar disorder biomarker candidates

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Bipolar disorder is a chronic and disabling mood disorder with a complex pathophysiological basis. A significant percentage of patients do not receive correct diagnosis which directly influences therapeutic response, rendering recovery troublesome. There is a long-standing need for proper non-clinically based tools for diagnosis, treatment selection and follow-up of such patients.

Areas covered: In the past decade, the scientific community has shown a great interest in biomarker development. Here, we highlight the different potential biomarkers and we discuss their feasibility and their possible clinical relevance.

Expert commentary: To date, despite the major ongoing trials and consortia with promising future perspectives, no reliable biomarker of bipolar disorder has been fully defined.

KEYWORDS:

• Bipolar disorder
• biomarkers
• neuroimaging
• peripheral markers
• genomic analysis

Declaration of interest

B.N. Frey has received grant/research support from Alternative Funding Plan Innovations Award, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation, J.P. Bickell Foundation, Ontario Brain Institute, Ontario Mental Health Foundation, Society for Women’s Health Research, Teresa Cascioli Charitable Foundation, Eli Lilly and Pfizer, and has received consultant and/or speaker fees from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Canadian Psychiatric Association, CANMAT, Daiichi Sankyo, Lundbeck, Pfizer, Servier and Sunovion. A.L. Teixeira has received grant/research support from Brazilian Funding Agencies and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UT Health Houston. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.