Researchers in London have cut through the complexity of the genetics underlying bipolar spectrum disorder (BSD) to discover single nucleotide polymorphisms they say are specific enough to form the basis of the first ever biomarker-based diagnostic test in psychiatry.
Characterized by periods of deep and profound depression alternating with periods of excessive mania mood swings with diminished sleep, bipolar spectrum disorder (BSD) affected an estimated 40 million people globally in 2019 in the U.S. with a major part of the problem attributed to delays in diagnosis including a mean time of 5-13 years. These delays in BSD diagnosis exert lifelong impacts including heightened suicide risk, relationship strains, impaired work/education performance, significant financial burdens and increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. has released data supporting the memory- and cognition-enhancing effects of TNX-4300 (estianeptine), the single (S)-isomer of tianeptine in preclinical development for depression, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
Mixed phase III study results have Bioxcel Therapeutics Inc. moving ahead to complete the clinical trial while withstanding a hammering from investors. BXCL-501 (dexmedetomidine), a sublingual film being developed to treat bipolar disorders- or schizophrenia-associated agitation, produced clinically meaningful efficacy results in part 1 of the pivotal study with half of the approved dose, but the primary efficacy endpoint was not statistically significant at two hours (p=0.077). BXCL-501 separated from placebo at four hours (p=0.049).
Researchers have identified miR-124 signaling and its effects on AMPA receptor neurotransmission as a biological mechanism linking the shared risk scores of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders to their shared symptoms. The work, which appeared online in Neuron on Nov. 14, 2022, focused on schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which are both highly heritable disorders that share substantial risk. Beyond their implications for those two specific disorders, the findings illustrate a path to connecting risk scores and behaviors via their biological link.
Therapeutic Solutions International Inc. has announced promising data on the use of Campbellcell for treatment of bipolar disorder by the company's suicide prevention-based spin-off Campbell Neurosciences Inc.
Bipolar disorder (BPD) is disabling, destructive and notoriously difficult to diagnose. Research indicates that up to 40% of patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder or unipolar depression actually have BPD and treating them with antidepressants alone runs an elevated risk of worsening their condition. But the issue is not one-sided: other studies found that 30% to 60% of patients diagnosed with BPD do not meet the clinical criteria for the illness and may be taking powerful mood stabilizers needlessly while failing to receive potentially beneficial therapies.
A genome-wide look at variants in RNA-binding proteins has revealed that such variants were disproportionately linked to the risk of multiple psychiatric disorders.
TORONTO – Scan the literature on mental health technologies, and you’ll find treatment apps for everything from depression to addiction. What you won’t find, said Claude Hariton, vice president and chief scientific officer at Quebec City-based Diamentis Inc., are tools to diagnose mental diseases. It’s a gap the company hopes to fill with Retinal Signal Processing and Analysis (RSPA), a tool just accepted into the U.S. FDA’s breakthrough devices program that diagnoses mental diseases from retinal signals in the eye.