[Evaluation of the Association between Lithium Treatment and GSK3ß Polymorphism in Bipolar Disorder Patients]. / Iki Uçlu Bozukluk Hastalarinda Lityuma Yanit ile GSK-3ß Polimorfizmi Iliskisinin Degerlendirilmesi.

OBJECTIVE: There is a lack of evidence regarding clinical predictors for the treatment response to lithium, which is the main stay treatment option for bipolar disorder. Studies that examined the mechanistic action of lithium revealed that glycogen synthase kinase 3ß (GSK-3ß) enzymeinhibition was important in regard to treatment responses. Based on this background, we aimed to investigate the association between responses to lithium treatment and five different polymorphisms of GSK-3ß. METHOD: Lithium treatment response scale (LTRS) scores for 100 patients diagnosed with bipolar disorders type I were calculated according to the hospital records. Blood samples were collected and genomic DNA was obtained using the MagNA Pure Compact automatic isolation method. The GSK-3ß: rs17183904, rs17183897, rs34009575, rs34002644, and rs17183890 polymorphisms were analyzed by real time PCR. RESULTS: In this cohort, the mean age of patients was 41.1±10.3 years, the mean age of disease onset was 24.5±8.2, and the mean LTRS score was 4.9±1.8. There was no statistically significant difference for LTRS scores between groups in terms of gender, marital status, level of education, and the type of first episode. LTRS was significantly higher in only the patients harbouring GSK-3ß rs17183890 AG genotype (p=0.008, t:2.71). Interestingly, no differences were found for the remaining polymorphisms. CONCLUSION: The specific GSK-3ß polymorphism that associated with lithium-response in our study may help to predict lithium responses and to develop individualized treatment. We presume that our pharmacogenomic findings may also provide important contributions to the clinical practice in regard to future evaluation of the treatment adherence and side effects. To obtain these goals, further genome-wide scanning studies conducted on larger sample cohorts are required.

Psychopathy and facial emotion recognition ability in patients with bipolar affective disorder with or without delinquent behaviors.

BACKGROUND: It is well known that patients with bipolar disorder are more prone to violence and have more criminal behaviors than general population. A strong relationship between criminal behavior and inability to empathize and imperceptions to other person's feelings and facial expressions increases the risk of delinquent behaviors. In this study, we aimed to investigate the deficits of facial emotion recognition ability in euthymic bipolar patients who committed an offense and compare with non-delinquent euthymic patients with bipolar disorder. METHOD: Fifty-five euthymic patients with delinquent behaviors and 54 non-delinquent euthymic bipolar patients as a control group were included in the study. Ekman's Facial Emotion Recognition Test, sociodemographic data, Hare Psychopathy Checklist, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Young Mania Rating Scale were applied to both groups. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between case and control groups in the meaning of average age, gender, level of education, mean age onset of disease and suicide attempt (p>0.05). The three types of most committed delinquent behaviors in patients with euthymic bipolar disorder were as follows: injury (30.8%), threat or insult (20%) and homicide (12.7%). The best accurate percentage of identified facial emotion was "happy" (>99%, for both) while the worst misidentified facial emotion was "fear" in both groups (<50%, for both). The total accuracy rate of recognition toward facial emotions was significantly impaired in patients with delinquent behaviors than non-delinquent ones (p<0.05). The accuracy rate of recognizing the fear expressions was significantly worse in the case group than in the control group (p<0.05). In addition, it tended to be worse toward angry facial expressions in criminal euthymic bipolar patients. The response times toward happy, fear, disgusted and angry expressions had been significantly longer in the case group than in the control group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: This study is the first, searching the ability of facial emotion recognition in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder who had delinquent behaviors. We have shown that patients with bipolar disorder who had delinquent behaviors may have some social interaction problems i.e., misrecognizing fearful and modestly anger facial emotions and need some more time to response facial emotions even in remission.

Evaluation of the Relation between Deliberate Self-Harm Behavior and Childhood Trauma Experiences in Patients Admitted to a Secondary-Care Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic for Adolescents and Young Adults.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and the features of deliberate self-harm (DSH) behavior in patients admitted to the psychiatric outpatient clinic for adolescents and young adults and also to detect the association between the act of DSH and childhood traumas. METHOD: In this study, we included all patients who were admitted to the secondary-care psychiatric outpatient clinic for adolescents and young adults in Bakirkoy Research and Training Hospital Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurosurgery throughout a month. A sociodemographic data form, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-28), Childhood Abuse and Neglect Question List and the Deliberate Self-Harm and Intent Screening Form were applied to three hundred participants. RESULT: The prevalence of DSH was 50.0% among the participants (56.8% for females and 28.8% for males). Childhood abuse was detected in 57.0% of all participants (60.4% of females and 46.6% of males). Among patients with act of DSH, the rate of childhood abuse was 71.3%, while it was 42.7% in the subjects without act of DSH. CONCLUSION: DSH is a common behavior among adolescent psychiatric patients. It is more common in females than in males. The prevalence of experience of childhood abuse and neglect is remarkably high and is associated with self-harm behavior.