Peripheral PDLIM5 expression in bipolar disorder and the effect of olanzapine administration

Abstract

Doc number: 91

Abstract

Background: One of the genes suggested to play an important role in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BPD) is PDLIM5 , which encodes LIM domain protein. Our main objective was to examine the effect of olanzapine treatment on PDLIM5 mRNA expression in the peripheral blood leukocytes of BPD patients.

Methods: We measured the expression of PDLIM5 mRNA from 16 patients with BPD Type I after 0, 4, and 8 weeks of treatment with olanzapine using quantitative real-time PCR. The Young Mania Rating Scale was used to evaluate the severity of manic symptoms in BPD patients. We also compared PDLIM5 mRNA expression in treatment-naïve BPD patients with that in healthy control subjects.

Results: No significant difference was found in PDLIM5 mRNA expression between patients before olanzapine treatment and following 4 and 8 weeks of treatment (p >0.05). Although we observed a significant reduction in the severity of manic symptoms in all BPD patients (p <0.05), the effectiveness of the medication did not significantly correlate with the expression of PDLIM5 mRNA (p >0.05). Interestingly, PDLIM5 mRNA expression differed significantly between treatment-naïve BPD patients and healthy control subjects (p =0.002).

Conclusion: PDLIM5 mRNA expression did not appear to be a reflection of the efficacy of olanzapine in reducing the manic symptoms of BPD. The significant difference in expression of PDLIM5 mRNA in the peripheral blood leukocytes of treatment-naïve BPD patients versus that of healthy control subjects, however, suggests that it may be a good biological marker for BPD.