Identifying neuroimaging biomarkers of bipolar depression
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Identifying neuroimaging biomarkers of bipolar depression: An fMRI study
IRAS ID
271995
Contact name
Mitul Mehta
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Kings College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
to be provided once registered, The Open Science Framework [OSF.io]
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 26 days
Research summary
Bipolar disorder is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the UK. It is associated with around a ten-year reduction in life expectancy and a fifteen-fold increased risk of death by suicide. The annual cost to the UK attributable to bipolar disorder has been estimated to be £5.2 billion per year. Two main types of bipolar disorder are recognised according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5); bipolar I disorder where people experience episodes of depression and severely elated mood, and bipolar II disorder (BPII) where patients experience less severe episodes of elated mood but often more severe episodes of depression. People with BPII experience depressive symptoms for around half of their lives.
Despite the importance of bipolar depression, the brain mechanisms which mediate depression are very poorly understood and no reliable biomarkers exist to support disease stratification or predict treatment response. Current established treatment options have limited efficacy and patients often experience significant side effects. Moreover, antidepressants used for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) are ineffective for the treatment of BPII and increase the risk of mood instability. There is an urgent need to better understand disease processes associated with bipolar depression and particularly to develop neuroimaging biomarkers which may be then sensitive to future medications in development.This study has been designed to address this need. We will recruit 30 patients with BPII, 30 patients with MDD and 30 healthy control participants into the study and they will attend for a screening visit, followed by one or two study visits when they will have behavioural assessments and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) carried out, both at rest and whilst completing some in-scanner tasks. As anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure in normally pleasurable activities) is a core symptom for both MDD and bipolar depression this study will also include tasks sensitive to components of anhedonia. We will compare the data from the MDII patients with both the MDD patients and the healthy controls.
REC name
London - London Bridge Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/LO/0170
Date of REC Opinion
15 May 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion