Pet talk

Dr Haim Einat kicked off the day’s proceedings with his talk ‘From Molecules to Organisms – Integration of Different Approaches to Bipolar Disorder’, opening up an interesting discussion on translating research in animal models into beneficial, real-life treatments.

Prof Einat emphasised the importance of selecting appropriate animal models, especially when studying complex illnesses like bipolar disorder. He cited seminal research from Dr Sue Carter, who was the first to elucidate mechanisms of oxytocin regulation by the cunning use of voles, rather than mice or rats, in her investigations.

The professor summed up by highlighting that significant variability exists in animal testing, and that a group cannot necessarily be treated uniformly when assessing reactions to any one stress or stimulus.

As with most other areas bipolar disorder research, there seem to be many unknowns in this emerging and complex field.

Cyto-kinds

In this correspondent’s opinion, inflammation, bipolar disorder and the web of interactions in the brain that interconnect them, has been a hot topic at this year’s WPA.

Dr Dina Popovic added weight to the discussion with her presentation on neuroinflammation and bipolar disorder, illustrating data showing the rise of cytokine expression at different phases of the illness. Through this data, she suggested a correlation between mania, and to a lesser extent depression, and inflammatory events.

Dr Popovic built on from previous days’ talks, proposing an ‘allostatic load model’ of neuroprogression in bipolar depression, where genetic, stress and lifestyle factors such as substance abuse, are all key to worsening disease state.

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