Evidence of alterations of Beta-endorphin levels and Mu-opioid receptor gene expression in bipolar disorder.
Psychiatry Res
; 316: 114787, 2022 10.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35988328
ABSTRACT
Despite the well-recognized effects of endogenous opioids on mood and behavior, research on its role in bipolar disorder (BD) is still limited to small or anecdotal reports. Considering that Beta-endorphins (ß-END) and Mu-opioid receptors (MOR), in particular, have a crucial activity in affective modulation, we hypothesized their alteration in BD. A cross-sectional study was conducted. We compared (1) BD type I (BD-I) patients (n = 50) vs healthy controls (n = 27), (2) two BD-I subject subgroups manic (MAN; n = 25) vs depressed (DEP; n = 25) subjects. Plasma levels of ß-END and MOR gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were analyzed using ELISA Immunoassay qRT-PCR. We found that subjects with BD exhibited a significant upregulation of MOR gene expression and a decrease of ß-END (p<0.0001 for both). MAN display higher MOR levels than DEP (p<0.001) and HC (p<0.0001). Plasma levels of ß-END were lower in DEP compared to MAN (p<0.05) and HC (p<0.0001). The main limitations are the cross-sectional design and the lack of a group of euthymic subjects. Although preliminary, our results suggest a dysregulation of the endogenous opioid systems in BD. In particular, both MAN and DEP showed a reduction of ß-END levels, whereas MAN was associated with MOR gene overexpression.
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Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Transtorno Bipolar
/
Beta-Endorfina
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article