Assessment of serum macro and trace element homeostasis and the complexity of inter-element relations in bipolar mood disorders.

Background: Bipolar disorders are complex neuropsychiatric in nature and are clinically classified as Type I, Type II, and Type V. The etiological factors include environmental-genetic inter-relations. Trace metals play a significant role in neurological disorders. There is very limited information on the role of macro and trace elements in bipolar disorders.
Methods: Trace elements namely Na, K, S, Ca, Mg, P, Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn and Al were analyzed in serum samples of 3 bipolar types: bipolar I, bipolar II and bipolar V with a control group using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The patients were assessed as per the standard diagnostic criteria and classified into the bipolar type I, II hypomanic, II depressives and V.
Results: In bipolar I (mania), Na, K, P, Cu, Al and Mn were increased significantly (p<0.001). In bipolar II hypomania, Na, S, Al and Mn were increased significantly (p<0.02), while in bipolar II depression, Na, K, Cu and Al were increased (p<0.001). In bipolar V, Na, Mg, P, Cu, and Al were increased significantly (p<0.002), though S (p<0.00001), Fe (p<0.002) and Zn (p<0.004) were decreased in all 3 bipolar groups.
Conclusions: There is a disturbance in the charge distribution and element-element interdependency in bipolar serum when compared to controls. These results suggest that there is a definite imbalance in macro and trace element homeostasis as evidenced by element inter-relationships in serum samples of bipolar groups when compared to controls.