BACKGROUND: Selecting a drug according to the treatment response in a relative has been widely accepted advice in the management of mood disorders. However, this recommendation has not been adequately substantiated in the literature. We tested the hypothesis that response to long-term lithium treatment is a familial trait. METHOD: We compared response to long-term lithium treatment in bipolar relatives of bipolar lithium responders and bipolar controls. Twenty-four relatives with bipolar disorder (as determined using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Lifetime version [SADS-L] and Research Diagnostic Criteria [RDC]) were identified in families of 106 patients with lithium-responsive bipolar disorder. A consecutive series of 40 lithium-treated patients in a bipolar clinic (meeting RDC and DSM-IV criteria for bipolar disorder) served as a comparison group. Lithium response was evaluated on a rating scale reflecting the quality and quantity of available data. RESULTS: The prevalence of unequivocal response among the relatives was 67%, as compared with the response rate of 35% in the comparison group (chi2 = 6.04, df = 1, p = .014). CONCLUSION: This highly significant difference in response between relatives and the control group supports the view that the response to lithium prophylaxis clusters in families.
BACKGROUND: Selecting a drug according to the treatment response in a relative has been widely accepted advice in the management of mood disorders. However, this recommendation has not been adequately substantiated in the literature. We tested the hypothesis that response to long-term lithium treatment is a familial trait. METHOD: We compared response to long-term lithium treatment in bipolar relatives of bipolar lithium responders and bipolar controls. Twenty-four relatives with bipolar disorder (as determined using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Lifetime version [SADS-L] and Research Diagnostic Criteria [RDC]) were identified in families of 106 patients with lithium-responsive bipolar disorder. A consecutive series of 40 lithium-treated patients in a bipolar clinic (meeting RDC and DSM-IV criteria for bipolar disorder) served as a comparison group. Lithium response was evaluated on a rating scale reflecting the quality and quantity of available data. RESULTS: The prevalence of unequivocal response among the relatives was 67%, as compared with the response rate of 35% in the comparison group (chi2 = 6.04, df = 1, p = .014). CONCLUSION: This highly significant difference in response between relatives and the control group supports the view that the response to lithium prophylaxis clusters in families.
Authors: Thomas G Schulze; Martin Alda; Mazda Adli; Nirmala Akula; Raffaella Ardau; Elise T Bui; Caterina Chillotti; Sven Cichon; Piotr Czerski; Maria Del Zompo; Sevilla D Detera-Wadleigh; Paul Grof; Oliver Gruber; Ryota Hashimoto; Joanna Hauser; Rebecca Hoban; Nakao Iwata; Layla Kassem; Tadafumi Kato; Sarah Kittel-Schneider; Sebastian Kliwicki; John R Kelsoe; Ichiro Kusumi; Gonzalo Laje; Susan G Leckband; Mirko Manchia; Glenda Macqueen; Takuya Masui; Norio Ozaki; Roy H Perlis; Andrea Pfennig; Paola Piccardi; Sara Richardson; Guy Rouleau; Andreas Reif; Janusz K Rybakowski; Johanna Sasse; Johannes Schumacher; Giovanni Severino; Jordan W Smoller; Alessio Squassina; Gustavo Turecki; L Trevor Young; Takeo Yoshikawa; Michael Bauer; Francis J McMahon Journal: Neuropsychobiology Date: 2010-05-08 Impact factor: 2.328
Authors: Michael J McCarthy; Heather Wei; Caroline M Nievergelt; Andrea Stautland; Adam X Maihofer; David K Welsh; Paul Shilling; Martin Alda; Ney Alliey-Rodriguez; Amit Anand; Ole A Andreasson; Yokesh Balaraman; Wade H Berrettini; Holli Bertram; Kristen J Brennand; Joseph R Calabrese; Cynthia V Calkin; Ana Claasen; Clara Conroy; William H Coryell; David W Craig; Nicole D'Arcangelo; Anna Demodena; Srdjan Djurovic; Scott Feeder; Carrie Fisher; Nicole Frazier; Mark A Frye; Fred H Gage; Keming Gao; Julie Garnham; Elliot S Gershon; Kara Glazer; Fernando Goes; Toyomi Goto; Gloria Harrington; Petter Jakobsen; Masoud Kamali; Elizabeth Karberg; Marisa Kelly; Susan G Leckband; Falk Lohoff; Melvin G McInnis; Francis Mondimore; Gunnar Morken; John I Nurnberger; Sarah Obral; Ketil J Oedegaard; Abigail Ortiz; Megan Ritchey; Kelly Ryan; Martha Schinagle; Helle Schoeyen; Candice Schwebel; Martha Shaw; Tatyana Shekhtman; Claire Slaney; Emma Stapp; Szabolcs Szelinger; Bruce Tarwater; Peter P Zandi; John R Kelsoe Journal: Neuropsychopharmacology Date: 2018-11-16 Impact factor: 7.853
Authors: Tomas Hajek; Margaret Hahn; Claire Slaney; Julie Garnham; Joshua Green; Martina Růzicková; Peter Zvolský; Martin Alda Journal: Bipolar Disord Date: 2008-06 Impact factor: 6.744
Authors: Roy H Perlis; Jordan W Smoller; Manuel A R Ferreira; Andrew McQuillin; Nick Bass; Jacob Lawrence; Gary S Sachs; Vishwajit Nimgaonkar; Edward M Scolnick; Hugh Gurling; Pamela Sklar; Shaun Purcell Journal: Am J Psychiatry Date: 2009-05-15 Impact factor: 18.112