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Lithium prevents grey matter atrophy in patients with bipolar disorder: an international multicenter study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2020

Franz Hozer*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Hôpital Corentin-Celton, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France Paris Descartes University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France UNIACT Lab, Psychiatry Team, NeuroSpin Neuroimaging Platform, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France INSERM U955, Mondor Institute for Biomedical Research, Team 15, Translational Psychiatry, Créteil, France
Samuel Sarrazin
Affiliation:
UNIACT Lab, Psychiatry Team, NeuroSpin Neuroimaging Platform, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France INSERM U955, Mondor Institute for Biomedical Research, Team 15, Translational Psychiatry, Créteil, France
Charles Laidi
Affiliation:
UNIACT Lab, Psychiatry Team, NeuroSpin Neuroimaging Platform, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France INSERM U955, Mondor Institute for Biomedical Research, Team 15, Translational Psychiatry, Créteil, France Department of Psychiatry, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Hôpitaux Universitaires Mondor, Créteil, France Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France
Pauline Favre
Affiliation:
UNIACT Lab, Psychiatry Team, NeuroSpin Neuroimaging Platform, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France INSERM U955, Mondor Institute for Biomedical Research, Team 15, Translational Psychiatry, Créteil, France
Melissa Pauling
Affiliation:
UNIACT Lab, Psychiatry Team, NeuroSpin Neuroimaging Platform, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France INSERM U955, Mondor Institute for Biomedical Research, Team 15, Translational Psychiatry, Créteil, France Department of Psychiatry, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Hôpitaux Universitaires Mondor, Créteil, France Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France
Dara Cannon
Affiliation:
Centre for Neuroimaging & Cognitive Genomics (NICOG), NCBES Galway Neuroscience Centre, National University of Ireland Galway, H91 TK33 Galway, Ireland
Colm McDonald
Affiliation:
Centre for Neuroimaging & Cognitive Genomics (NICOG), NCBES Galway Neuroscience Centre, National University of Ireland Galway, H91 TK33 Galway, Ireland
Louise Emsell
Affiliation:
Translational MRI, Department of Imaging & Pathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Department of Old Age Psychiatry, University Psychiatry Centre, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Jean-François Mangin
Affiliation:
UNATI Lab, NeuroSpin Neuroimaging Platform, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Edouard Duchesnay
Affiliation:
UNATI Lab, NeuroSpin Neuroimaging Platform, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Marcella Bellani
Affiliation:
UOC Psychiatry, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata Verona (AOUI), Verona, Italy
Paolo Brambilla
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Grand Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
Michele Wessa
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
Julia Linke
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
Mircea Polosan
Affiliation:
Grenoble Alpes University, Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience, INSERM U1216, Hôpital Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
Amelia Versace
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Mary L. Phillips
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Marine Delavest
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Hôpital Lariboisière-Fernand Widal, INSERM U705 CNRS UMR 8206, Paris, France Paris Diderot University, Paris, France
Frank Bellivier
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Hôpital Lariboisière-Fernand Widal, INSERM U705 CNRS UMR 8206, Paris, France Paris Diderot University, Paris, France
Nora Hamdani
Affiliation:
INSERM U955, Mondor Institute for Biomedical Research, Team 15, Translational Psychiatry, Créteil, France Department of Psychiatry, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Hôpitaux Universitaires Mondor, Créteil, France Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France
Marc-Antoine d'Albis
Affiliation:
UNIACT Lab, Psychiatry Team, NeuroSpin Neuroimaging Platform, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France INSERM U955, Mondor Institute for Biomedical Research, Team 15, Translational Psychiatry, Créteil, France Department of Psychiatry, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Hôpitaux Universitaires Mondor, Créteil, France Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France
Marion Leboyer
Affiliation:
INSERM U955, Mondor Institute for Biomedical Research, Team 15, Translational Psychiatry, Créteil, France Department of Psychiatry, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Hôpitaux Universitaires Mondor, Créteil, France Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France Faculté de Médecine de Créteil, Université Paris Est Créteil, Créteil, France
Josselin Houenou
Affiliation:
UNIACT Lab, Psychiatry Team, NeuroSpin Neuroimaging Platform, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France INSERM U955, Mondor Institute for Biomedical Research, Team 15, Translational Psychiatry, Créteil, France Department of Psychiatry, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Hôpitaux Universitaires Mondor, Créteil, France Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France Faculté de Médecine de Créteil, Université Paris Est Créteil, Créteil, France
*
Author for correspondence: Franz Hozer, E-mail: franz.hozer@aphp.fr

Abstract

Background

Lithium (Li) is the gold standard treatment for bipolar disorder (BD). However, its mechanisms of action remain unknown but include neurotrophic effects. We here investigated the influence of Li on cortical and local grey matter (GM) volumes in a large international sample of patients with BD and healthy controls (HC).

Methods

We analyzed high-resolution T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging scans of 271 patients with BD type I (120 undergoing Li) and 316 HC. Cortical and local GM volumes were compared using voxel-wise approaches with voxel-based morphometry and SIENAX using FSL. We used multiple linear regression models to test the influence of Li on cortical and local GM volumes, taking into account potential confounding factors such as a history of alcohol misuse.

Results

Patients taking Li had greater cortical GM volume than patients without. Patients undergoing Li had greater regional GM volumes in the right middle frontal gyrus, the right anterior cingulate gyrus, and the left fusiform gyrus in comparison with patients not taking Li.

Conclusions

Our results in a large multicentric sample support the hypothesis that Li could exert neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects limiting pathological GM atrophy in key brain regions associated with BD.

Information

Type
Original Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020

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