Elevated liver transaminases among patients with psychiatric disorders.

Hepatocyte injury is assessed by serum aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase estimation. In psychiatric populations, antipsychotic drugs (AD) are culprit in hepatic dysfunction. To assess transaminitis among psychiatric patients treated by AD. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Zagazig University Hospitals in Egypt, from December 2022 to February 2023. A total of 135 adult patients aged ≥ 18 years, were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders after exclusion of patients receiving any hepatotoxic drugs, viral hepatitis, having chronic liver or kidney diseases, diabetes mellitus, mental retardation, and pregnant females. Among the 135 patients, 104 (77.0%) were males. Their age was 32 ±â€…9, The most popular used class of AD was atypical AD 84 (62.2%). The overall incidence of transaminitis among patients receiving AD was 23/135 (17.04%) of patients; 13 (56.5%) were on atypical AD compared to 10 (43.5%) patients receiving combined AD, without any statistically significant difference. The use of AD in patients with psychiatric disorders is potentially safe with minimal transaminitis (

Electroconvulsive therapy improves hematological inflammatory markers in bipolar disorder.

BACKGROUND: Immune dysfunction and inflammation participate in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD). Abnormal levels of inflammatory markers, namely, red cell distribution width (RDW) and platelet distribution width (PDW), were detected in BD. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for various mental disorders including BD was linked to changes in these inflammatory mediators. Hence, we aimed to assess the impact of ECT on PDW and RDW in patients with BD. METHODS: Seventy-two patients aged ≥ 16 were enrolled in the current prospective cohort study over 6 months, diagnosed as BD based on DSM-IV and indicated for ECT and complete blood count (CBC) drawn pre-ECT and after four ECT sessions. RESULTS: By the end of the ECT sessions, we noticed a significant elevation in PDW with lowering in RDW levels. However, no significant differences were detected before and after ECT regarding platelet (PLTs) count, mean platelet volume (MPV), and Plateletcrit (PCT). CONCLUSION: ECT seems to improve the CBC-derived inflammatory markers (RDW and PDW) subsequently, improving the underlying inflammatory process in BD without disturbing PLT homeostasis which support its anti-inflammatory role in BD.