ELEVATED SERUM LEVELS OF C-REACCTIVE PROTEIN ARE ASSOCIATED WITH MANIA SYMPTOMS IN OUTPATIENTS WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2007 May 9;31(4):952-5. [Epub 2007 Mar 6]
Dickerson F, Stallings C, Origoni A, Boronow J, Yolken R
Stanley Research Center at Sheppard Pratt, Sheppard Pratt Health System, 6501 North Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21204, USA [email protected]
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: We investigated the association between serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation, and the severity of psychopathology in outpatients with bipolar disorder. We also compared the levels of CRP in the bipolar disorder individuals with those of a non-psychiatric control groups. METHODS: We measured the level of CRP in N=122 outpatients with bipolar disorder and N=165 control individuals and evaluated the symptom severity of the bipolar disorder patients with the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and the Hamilton Depression Scale (Ham-D). RESULTS: Within the bipolar disorder sample, CRP was significantly associated with the YMRS score (r=.306, p<.006), age of onset, gender, and race. CRP was not significantly associated with the Ham-D score or other clinical or demographic variables. In a multivariate analysis of covariance, CRP was the only independent predictor of YMRS score (F=11.7, p=.0009). The CRP levels of the n=41 individuals with YMRS >6 were significantly greater than the levels of the n=81 individuals with YMRS