Aims: Insulin resistance, quantified by hyperinsulinemia, has been identified as a preclinical state for metabolic syndrome. Acute medicated bipolar patients are vulnerable to hyperinsulinemia in early remission. We examined the proportion of fasting serum insulin levels in remitted bipolar patients and considered what factors may contribute to hyperinsulinemia.
Methods: Measurements taken in this study included the fasting plasma levels of insulin, glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol, low-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol, and the body mass index (BMI) among 56 bipolar I manic patients in full remission. We examined serum insulin levels in order to explore the correlation between and within the hyperinsulinemia and non-hyperinsulinemia groups.
Results: A total of 15 patients (26.8%) were identified as having hyperinsulinemia. Among all factors, only BMI was associated with higher serum insulin level (BMI ≥ 24: odds ratio of 8.57; P < 0.01; 95% confidence interval, 1.65-44.43).
Conclusion: Hyperinsulinemia was not more prevalent in medicated euthymic bipolar patients compared with the general population. However, increasing bodyweight may make these patients more vulnerable to hyperinsulinemia, irrespective of their mood stabilizers or antipsychotics. Weight management should not be ignored in euthymic bipolar patients to prevent the preclinical state for metabolic syndrome.
© 2010 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2010 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.