BACKGROUND Imbalances in metal concentrations have been suggested to contribute to the pathophysiology of different brain disorders, such as bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SCZ). OBJECTIVES The aim of this exploratory study is to evaluate the association between the concentrations of macro/trace elements in serum from BD and SCZ patients considering the effects from different treatments. METHODS Eleven subjects with SCZ, seven with BD treated with lithium (BDL) and eight subjects with BD treated with other medications except lithium (BDN) were recruited for the study, as well as eleven healthy controls (HC). Serum concentrations of eleven macro/trace elements (Se, Zn, Fe, K, Ca, Mg, P, Al, Cu, Mn, and Ni) were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). RESULTS Se and Zn concentrations were significantly lower for patients with SCZ and BD in comparison to HC by one-way ANOVA test. Moreover, serum concentrations for Fe were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in BDN (548 ± 92 μg L-1) and SCZ (632 ± 279 μg L-1) in comparison to HC (421 ± 121 μg L-1). A significant negative correlation was reported between Se and Fe in BDL group (r = -0.935, p < 0.05). In addition, a significantly higher Cu/Zn ratio was determined in SCZ group against HC (ratio = 2.4, p = 0.028). CONCLUSIONS The obtained results suggest that the imbalance in Fe concentrations is an effect of BD treatment. Lithium is supposed to have an antagonist effect for Se in BDL patients. A negative correlation reported between Fe and BMI in SCZ group could be related to antipsychotic treatment and the Cu/Zn ratio reported could be considered as a suggesting parameter to relate oxidative stress to SCZ. Future studies including larger number of patients with SCZ and BD before and after treatment are necessary to confirm the investigative results presented herein.

中文翻译：

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考虑到治疗效果，双相情感障碍患者血清中的微量元素与精神分裂症患者之间的关联。

背景技术已经提出金属浓度的失衡有助于诸如双相情感障碍（BD）和精神分裂症（SCZ）的不同脑部疾病的病理生理。目的本探索性研究的目的是评估BD和SCZ患者血清中宏/痕量元素浓度之间的关联，并考虑不同治疗方法的影响。方法招募了11名SCZ受试者，7名用锂治疗的BD（BDL）和8名用锂以外的其他药物治疗的BD（BDN）受试者以及11名健康对照（HC）。使用电感耦合等离子体质谱法（ICP-MS）测定11种宏观/痕量元素（硒，锌，铁，钾，钙，镁，磷，铝，铜，锰和镍）的血清浓度。结果通过单向方差分析，与HC相比，SCZ和BD患者的Se和Zn浓度显着降低。此外，与HC（421±121μgL-1）相比，BDN（548±92μgL-1）和SCZ（632±279μgL-1）的Fe血清浓度显着更高（p <0.05）。BDL组中硒和铁之间存在显着负相关（r = -0.935，p <0.05）。此外，在SCZ组中，与HC相比，Cu / Zn比值明显更高（比率= 2.4，p = 0.028）。结论获得的结果表明，铁浓度的不平衡是BD治疗的一种影响。锂被认为对BDL患者的Se具有拮抗作用。SCZ组中Fe与BMI之间呈负相关可能与抗精神病药物治疗有关，所报告的Cu / Zn比值可被认为是将氧化应激与SCZ相关的暗示参数。有必要进行进一步的研究，包括治疗之前和之后的大量SCZ和BD患者，以确认本文提供的研究结果。