Prefrontal cortical thickness and clinical characteristics of long-term treatment response to valproate in bipolar disorder

Abstract

Valproate compositions are frequently used to treat bipolar disorder (BD); however, 87% of patients do not report full response in the long-term. There is scarce information about the clinical features and brain structural characteristics of long-term treatment response (LTTR) to this medication. In this study, we aim to evaluate the clinical characteristics and prefrontal cortical thickness (CT) of LTTR to valproate in BD. We evaluated 30 BD outpatients on valproate treatment, and 20 controls with a 3T T1-weighted 3D brain scan and Alda's scale for LTTR. An analysis of covariance was used to evaluate CT measures and a logistic regression was conducted to predict the full response (FR) using clinical features and CT measures. Patients with an insufficient response (IR) reported thinner right frontal eye fields, anterior and dorsolateral prefrontal cortexes compared with controls. FR patients presented thicker right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex than IR and no differences with controls. Patients with mixed features presented increased odds of achieving FR, while CT measures reported non-significant results. This is the first study to report mixed features as a clinical predictor of valproate LTTR. Our findings also suggest better preservation of the right prefrontal cortex of subjects with FR to valproate.

Keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging; Mood disorders; Mood stabilizers; Neuroimaging.