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BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Thyroid Disease | Research article

Rapid cycling bipolar disorder is associated with antithyroid antibodies, instead of thyroid dysfunction

Authors: Zhaoyu Gan, Xiuhua Wu, Zhongcheng Chen, Yingtao Liao, Yingdong Wu, Zimeng He, Zhihua Yang, Qi Zhang

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

Background

Conclusions regarding the association between antithyroid antibodies or thyroid dysfunction and rapid cycling bipolar disorder (RCBD) have been conflicting. Previous studies suggest that the impact of antithyroid antibodies on mental wellbeing seems to be independent of thyroid function. Here, we investigated their independent association with RCBD in a large, well-defined population of bipolar disorder (BD).

Methods

Fast serum levels of free thyroxine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), TPO-abs and Tg-abs were simultaneously measured in 352 patients with BD. Clinical features of BD were collected through semi-structural interview conducted by trained interviewers with background of psychiatric education.

Results

Neither hypothyroidism nor hyperthyroidism was significantly associated with RCBD. Both TPO-abs and Tg-abs were significantly related to RCBD, even after controlling for gender, age, marriage status, education, antidepressants treatment, comorbidity of thyroid diseases, and thyroid function (serum levels of FT3, FT4 and TSH). Although TPO-abs and Tg-abs were highly correlated with each other, binary logistic regression with forward LR selected TPO-abs, instead of Tg-abs, to be associated with RCBD. TPO-abs was significantly, independently of Tg-abs, associated with hyperthyroidism, while Tg-abs was marginally significantly related to hypothyroidism at the presence of TPO-abs.

Conclusion

TPO-abs might be treated as a biomarker of RCBD. Further exploring the underlying mechanism might help understand the nature of RCBD and find out new treatment target for it.
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Metadata
Title
Rapid cycling bipolar disorder is associated with antithyroid antibodies, instead of thyroid dysfunction
Authors
Zhaoyu Gan
Xiuhua Wu
Zhongcheng Chen
Yingtao Liao
Yingdong Wu
Zimeng He
Zhihua Yang
Qi Zhang
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-019-2354-6

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