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Brain glutamate levels measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy in patients with bipolar disorder: a meta-analysis
Bipolar Disorders, 07/27/2012
Evidence Based Medicine
Clinical Article
Gigante AD et al. – The results of this meta–analysis suggest that brain glutamate + glutamine (Glx) levels are elevated in bipolar disorder patients and support the idea that glutamate might play an important role in the pathophysiology
Methods- A Medline search for the period January 1980–April 2010 was conducted to identify published studies that used 1H-MRS to measure glutamate + glutamine (Glx), the Glx/creatine (Cr) ratio, glutamate (Glu), or the Glu/Cr ratio in any brain region in adult or child/adolescent patients with BD and healthy subjects.
- A meta-analysis of the pooled data was conducted.
- BD patients were found to have increased Glx compared to healthy subjects when all brain areas were combined.
- This finding remained true in medicated and non-medicated patients, and in frontal brain areas in adults.
- There was a non-significant trend (p = 0.09) for an increase in whole-brain Glx/Cr and Glu in patients compared with healthy subjects.
- No significant difference was found in Glu/Cr.
