Mounting Evidence of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Bipolar Disorder
mitochondrion
At the 2019 meeting of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders, researchers Ana Andreazza, Olivia Dean and colleagues reviewed substantial data that implicate mitochondrial dysfunction in the mood and energy fluctuations that make up bipolar disorder. Most of the neurobiological alterations known to occur in bipolar disorder have a relationship to mitochondria, which produce energy within cells. These alterations include abnormalities in glutamate, gene expression, apoptosis (cell death), oxidative stress, low ATP (a molecule that stores energy), altered ion pumps, increased intracellular calcium, and insufficient glutathionine (an antioxidant made up of three amino acids).
Coenzyme Q10 is a mitochrondrial enhancer of Complex I, an enzyme that is key to the first step in mitochondrial energy production. A 2018 controlled study by Maryam Mehrpooya and colleagues published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology found that 200mg/day of CoQ10 was more effective than placebo at reducing symptoms of bipolar depression when added to patients’ stable treatment regimens that included mood stabilizers and antidepressants. The effect size was large (0.87), and it took eight weeks for the benefit over placebo to appear. Response rate to CoQ10 was 72% compared to 12% to placebo.
Editor’s Note: Some formulations of CoQ10 do not cross the blood-brain barrier easily, so only a very small percentage of the CoQ10 gets into the brain. Thus, consumers should be careful about the type of product they purchase. The one made by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company is likely to be effective.
Lithium Reverses Effects of Oxidative Stress on Mitochondrial Function
mitochondrion
Oxidative stress has been implicated in a wide range of illnesses, but what is it exactly? Our bodies use the oxygen we breathe to burn the fuel we get from food, and while this is a natural process, it produces byproducts known as free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can strip electrons from other molecules in a process called oxidation. Antioxidants (such as vitamin C) act as a source of electrons, helping keep other cells stable and healthy. Oxidative stress refers to the stress on our bodies from the normal effects of free radicals combined with environmental stressors like tobacco smoke or radiation.
In work presented at the 2013 meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, Anna Andreason showed that over-activity of neurons increases oxidative stress through the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These are a type of free radicals that can damage cells in two ways: nitrosylation of proteins (adding nitric oxide to a thiol molecule), and oxidation, which results in more lasting effects on synaptic structures. The chemical compound rotenone damages mitochondria by producing ROS, and Andreason found that lithium was able to reverse this production and reverse the adverse effects of oxidative stress.
Lithium Has an Amazing Array of Positive Effects
Editor’s Note: The ability of lithium to protect mitochondria (the energy storehouse of a cell) adds to an increasingly long list of lithium’s neurotropic and neuroprotective benefits. Lithium increases cell survival factors BDNF and Bcl-2, increases markers of neuronal integrity such as N-Acetylaspartic acid (NAA), increases the volume of the hippocampus and cortex, and now helps protect mitochondria from oxidative stress. Lithium also increases the length of telomeres, which cap the ends of chromosome and protect them from damage during the DNA replication that occurs each time a cell divides. Short telomeres are associated with many kinds of medical and psychiatric diseases, as well as shorter life spans. No wonder that in addition to preventing mania and depression it has other clinical benefits, such as preventing memory deterioration, medical mortality, and suicide.
