Citation

Moraes JB, Maes M, Barbosa DS, Ferrari TZ, Uehara MK, Carvalho AF, Nunes SO. CNS Neurol. Disord. Drug Targets 2017; 16(4): 514-521.

Affiliation

Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina. Brazil.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Bentham Science Publishers)

DOI

10.2174/1871527316666170407151514

PMID

28403800

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether increased levels of high-sensitivity C- reactive protein (hs-CRP) observed in individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) compared to healthy controls (HCs) could be influenced by a previous exposure to early life stress (ELS) independently from other explanatory or background variables, including age, body mass index (BMI), and the presence of co-occurring mental disorders.

METHODS: In this case-control study we included 142 healthy controls and 92 bipolar I and II patients. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire was administered in a subset of 30 female patients with BD and 31 female HCs, and plasma hs-CRP was measured in all subjects. Multivariable models adjusted the data for the possible confounding variables.

RESULTS: Serum hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in patients with BD compared to HCs. However, after controlling for BMI, these differences were no longer significant. Around 55% of the variance in hs-CRP was explained by cumulative and independent effects of age, BMIand childhood trauma, especially sexual abuse.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that increased hs-CRP levels in BD patients are more related to childhood trauma, especially sexual abuse, age and BMI than to a diagnosis of BD per se. These data suggest that peripheral inflammation may underpin the well-known detrimental effects of childhood maltreatment and obesity in the course of BD. Hs-CRP data are difficult to interpret if they are not adjusted for effects ofBMI and age.

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Language: en

Keywords

CRP.; anxiety; bipolar disorder; childhood sexual abuse; early life stress; immune activation; inflammation