Molecular Signatures of Lithium Treatment: Current Knowledge

Frank Bellivier; Cynthia Marie-Claire

doi:10.1055/a-0650-4820

Pharmacopsychiatry, Table of Contents

Pharmacopsychiatry 2018; 51(05): 212-219
DOI: 10.1055/a-0650-4820

Review

Molecular Signatures of Lithium Treatment: Current Knowledge

Frank Bellivier

¹Variabilite de reponse aux psychotropes, INSERM U1144/Faculte de Pharmacie de Paris/Universite Paris Descartes/Universite Paris Diderot/Universite Sorbonne Paris Cite, Paris, France

²AP-HP, GH Saint-Louis – Lariboisière – F. Widal, Pole de Psychiatrie et de Medecine Addictologique, 75475 Paris cedex 10, France

³Fondation Fondamental, Creteil, France

,

Cynthia Marie-Claire

¹Variabilite de reponse aux psychotropes, INSERM U1144/Faculte de Pharmacie de Paris/Universite Paris Descartes/Universite Paris Diderot/Universite Sorbonne Paris Cite, Paris, France

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

Lithium (Li) is the key mood stabilizer in the prevention of mood recurrences and suicide in bipolar disorders. However, only one-third of patients become asymptomatic with Li treatment, and to date, no clinical markers can predict this response variability. Li is a multitargeting drug, complicating an understanding of its mechanisms of action. The present article reviews Li’s various biological effects, including those obtained in transcriptomic and epigenetic studies, in both humans and animal models. A molecular signature of the therapeutic response to Li is urgently required, including possibly from the circulation. This would better clarify the therapeutic mechanism of Li’s action as well as the development of clinical biomarkers. As such, the biological underpinnings of Li’s beneficial effects should provide clearer understanding of the varying pathophysiological processes in bipolar disorder presentations, with implications for classification and clinical management, possibly leading to a personalized prescription.

Key words

Bipolar disorder treatment - lithium - biomarker of response

Full Text

References

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