1996 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Prospective study of rapid cycling affective disorder
| Project/Area Number |
07671091
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Psychiatric science
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| Research Institution | Tokyo Women's Medical College |
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Principal Investigator |
SAKAMOTO Kaoru Tokyo Women's Medical College School of Medicine, Assistant Professor, 医学部, 講師 (30205760)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TOMITAKA Shinichiro Tokyo Women's Medical College School of Medicine, Instructor, 医学部, 助手 (00237124)
KAMO Toshiko Tokyo Women's Medical College School of Medicine, Assistant Professor, 医学部, 講師 (20186018)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1995 – 1996
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| Keywords | Rapid cycler / corisol / lithium / prognosis |
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| Research Abstract |
To our knowledge, there are only two prospective studies which have investigated the prognosis of rapid cycling affective disorder and their results vary quite considerably. Thus, the prognostic significance of rapid cycling remains an important question.
We followed up 30 rapid cyclers who were treated aggressively with lithium, carbamazepine and sometimes in combination with other drugs. Of these 30, fourteen stopped cycling rapidly within the first year. On the other hand, the remaining sixteen comtinued to cycle rapidly. Their treatment responses differ accordingly to the duration of rapid cycling prior to intensive treatment.
We also assessed hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis function in patients with rapid cycling by measuring urinary free cortisol in the dexamethasone test. Our results show that rapid cycling patients have lower urinary free cortisol levels during hypomanic phases than during depressive phases. The present study confirmed the hypothesis that hypothalamic-pituitrary-adrenocortical axis function varies with the mood states of rapid cycling patients.
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