OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the comparative risks of switches in mood polarity into hypomania or mania during acute and continuation trials of adjunctive antidepressant treatment of bipolar depression.

METHOD: One hundred fifty-nine patients with bipolar I disorder or bipolar II disorder participated in a total of 228 acute (10-week) randomized trials of bupropion, sertraline, or venlafaxine as an adjunct to a mood stabilizer. Patients in 87 of these trials entered continuation ...

OBJECTIVE: Bipolar disorder often co-occurs with other axis I disorders, but little is known about the relationships between the clinical features of bipolar illness and these comorbid conditions. Therefore, the authors assessed comorbid lifetime and current axis I disorders in 288 patients with bipolar disorder and the relationships of these comorbid disorders to selected demographic and historical illness variables.

METHOD: They evaluated 288 outpatients with bipolar I or II disorder, ...

OBJECTIVE: While guidelines for treating patients with bipolar depression recommend discontinuing antidepressants within 6 months after remission, few studies have assessed the implications of this strategy on the risk for depressive relapse. This study examined the effect of antidepressant discontinuation or continuation on depressive relapse risk among bipolar subjects successfully treated for an acute depressive episode.

METHOD: Eighty-four subjects with bipolar disorder who achieved ...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of aripiprazole as acute and maintenance of effect monotherapy for acute bipolar mania.

METHODS: Patients with acute bipolar I mania (DSM-IV-TR: YMRS > or =20), manic or mixed (with or without psychotic features) were randomized to double-blind aripiprazole (15-30 mg/day; n=155), placebo (n=165) or lithium (900-1500 mg/day; n=160) (1:1:1) for 3 weeks. Aripiprazole- and lithium-treated patients remained on blinded treatment for 9 additional ...

OBJECTIVE: The study evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of ziprasidone, compared with placebo, in the treatment of adult patients with acute bipolar mania.

METHOD: Patients with a primary DSM-IV diagnosis of bipolar I disorder and a current manic or mixed episode (confirmed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, Patient Edition) (N=210) were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to 3 weeks of double-blind treatment with ziprasidone (40-80 mg twice daily) or ...

OBJECTIVE: The authors compared the efficacy and safety of aripiprazole, a novel antipsychotic, to placebo for treatment of patients in an acute manic or mixed episode of bipolar disorder.

METHOD: This 3-week, multicenter, double-blind study randomly assigned 262 bipolar disorder patients in an acute manic or mixed episode to aripiprazole, 30 mg/day (reduced to 15 mg/day if needed for tolerability), or placebo. Patients remained hospitalized for at least 2 of the weeks. The primary ...

CONTEXT: Alcohol-use disorders are common co-occurring conditions affecting bipolar patients, and this co-occurrence is negatively associated with outcome.

OBJECTIVE: The primary goal of this study was to identify how the relative onsets of alcohol-use and bipolar disorders affect the subsequent courses of illness in patients with both conditions.

DESIGN AND SETTING: Inception cohort at an academic medical center.

PATIENTS: Patients meeting criteria for type I bipolar disorder, manic or ...

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of risperidone monotherapy in the treatment of acute bipolar mania.

METHOD: Patients with DSM-IV bipolar I disorder experiencing an acute manic episode (baseline Young Mania Rating Scale score >/==" BORDER="0">20) were randomly assigned to 3 weeks of treatment with risperidone (flexible dose: 1-6 mg/day) or placebo. The primary efficacy measure was the mean baseline-to-endpoint change in total score on the Young Mania Rating Scale. ...

OBJECTIVE: There is a major unmet need for effective options in the treatment of bipolar depression.

METHOD: Five hundred forty-two outpatients with bipolar I (N=360) or II (N=182) disorder experiencing a major depressive episode (DSM-IV) were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of quetiapine (600 or 300 mg/day) or placebo. The primary efficacy measure was mean change from baseline to week 8 in the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale total score. Additional efficacy assessments included ...

OBJECTIVE: We previously found that compared with Europe more parents of the USA patients were positive for a mood disorder, and that this was associated with early onset bipolar disorder. Here we examine family history of psychiatric illness in more detail across several generations.

METHODS: A total of 968 outpatients (average age 41) with bipolar disorder from four sites in the USA and three in the Netherlands and Germany (abbreviated as Europe) gave informed consent and provided ...

The relationship between clinically effective antipsychotic drug dosage and binding affinity to cloned dopamine (DA) and serotonin receptor subtypes was analyzed in an effort to elucidate the contribution of individual receptor subtypes to medication response. Clinically effective dose and binding affinity to D2 DA receptor were modestly correlated for typical antipsychotic medications (r=0.54, p=0.046), but surprisingly were not correlated for atypical antipsychotics (r=0.41, p=0.31). ...

INTRODUCTION: This study examined the reproductive function and prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in women with bipolar disorder taking antimanic medications.

METHOD: Women aged 18-45 treated for bipolar disorder and not taking steroid contraceptives were recruited to complete questionnaires about their menstrual cycle and to provide blood samples for measurement of a range of reproductive endocrine and metabolic hormone levels. Eighty women participated in completing the ...