AUTHOR=Poletti Sara , Mazza Mario Gennaro , Vai Benedetta , Lorenzi Cristina , Colombo Cristina , Benedetti Francesco 

TITLE=Proinflammatory Cytokines Predict Brain Metabolite Concentrations in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex of Patients With Bipolar Disorder

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.590095

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2020.590095

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<p>Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe psychiatric illness characterized by abnormalities in the immune/inflammatory function and in brain metabolism. Evidences suggest that inflammation may affect the levels of brain metabolites as measured by single-proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (<sup>1</sup>H-MRS). The aim of the study was to investigate whether a wide panel of inflammatory markers (i.e., cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors) can predict brain metabolite concentrations of glutamate, <italic>myo</italic>-inositol, <italic>N</italic>-acetylaspartate, and glutathione in a sample of 63 bipolar patients and 49 healthy controls. Three cytokines influenced brain metabolite concentrations: IL-9 positively predicts glutamate, IL-1β positively predicts <italic>Myo</italic>-inositol, and CCL5 positively predicts <italic>N</italic>-acetylaspartate concentrations. Furthermore, patients showed higher concentrations of glutamate, <italic>Myo</italic>-inositol, and glutathione and lower concentrations of <italic>N</italic>-acetylaspartate in respect to healthy controls. Our results confirm that inflammation in BD alters brain metabolism, through mechanisms possibly including the production of reactive oxygen species and glia activation.</p>