Thyroid function and lipid profile in bipolar I patients

Asma Ezzaher; Dhouha Haj Mouhamed; Anwar Mechri; Fadoua Neffati; Wahiba Douki; Lotfi Gaha; Mohamed Fadhel Najjar

doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2011.02.002

Thyroid function and lipid profile in bipolar I patients

Asian J Psychiatr. 2011 Jun;4(2):139-43. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2011.02.002. Epub 2011 Jun 10.

Authors

Asma Ezzaher¹, Dhouha Haj Mouhamed, Anwar Mechri, Fadoua Neffati, Wahiba Douki, Lotfi Gaha, Mohamed Fadhel Najjar

Affiliation

¹ Laboratory of Biochemistry-Toxicology, Monastir University Hospital, Tunisia.

PMID: 23051081
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2011.02.002

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of thyroid dysfunctions and to explore their association with perturbations in lipid profile in bipolar I patients.

Patients and methods: Our study included 130 bipolar I patients diagnosed according to the DSM IV, and 124 control subjects aged respectively 37.9±12.1 and 37.6±13.2 years. TSH and FT4 were determined using electrochemiluminescence. Total cholesterol, triglycerides, c-LDL and c-HDL were determined by enzymatic colorimetric methods and ApoA1, ApoB and Lp(a) by immunoturbidimetric techniques on Konélab 30™.

Results: Patients had significantly higher TSH values than controls and had perturbations in lipid profile. 0.7% and 28.5% of patients had respectively hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism was associated with obesity and perturbations in lipid profile particularly increase in total cholesterol, c-LDL, ApoB, ApoB/ApoA1 and Lp(a) and decrease in ApoA1 and c-HDL. Moreover, it was associated with lithium and valproic acid treatment.

Conclusions: Hypothyroidism was frequent in bipolar patients. It was significantly associated with obesity and perturbations in lipid profile. Therefore, bipolar patients require specific care, particularly for thyroid, lipid profile and weight; the effectiveness of this care will be evaluated during follow-up period.