According to the authors, bipolar disorder is a severe illness with few treatments available. Understanding the pathophysiology and identifying relevant targets could prove useful for developing new treatments. This article focuses on human studies and reviews evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction in bipolar disorder. Mitochondria are needed for energy production and play an important role in regulating apoptosis and calcium (Ca2+) signaling as well as synaptic plasticity. There is evidence that polymorphisms of mitochondria-related genes may be risk factors for bipolar disorder. Postmortem studies in bipolar patient brain also showed decreased electron transport chain activity and increased nitrosative and oxidative stress. Neuroimaging studies consistently showed decreased energy levels and pH in brains of bipolar disorder patients. “Expert opinion: Targeting mitochondrial function, and their role in energy metabolism, synaptic plasticity and cell survival, may be an important avenue for development of new mood-stabilizing agents.”
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de Sousa RT, Machado-Vieira R, Zarate CA Jr, Manji HK: Targeting mitochondrially mediated plasticity to develop improved therapeutics for bipolar disorder. Expert Opinion Therapeutic Targets [Epub ahead of print, 2014 July 24:1-17].
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25056514