Inflammation associated with left ventricular hypertrophy in bipolar disorder: A cross-sectional study

Objective: Inflammation has received increasing attention as a contributor to the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD) and cardiac hypertrophy into heart failure (HF). Accordingly, we chose BD-related inflammatory markers to investigate their relationships with cardiac left ventricular function and structure in BD. Methods: Sixty physically healthy and euthymic patients with bipolar I disorder were recruited to compare with 50 healthy normal controls. The echocardiography was performed to estimate left ventricular mass index (LVMI) as a parameter of LV hypertrophy (LVH) and left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) as a parameter of systolic function. An LVEF above the normal range (>70%) was defined as a hyperdynamic heart. Participants' levels of inflammatory and atherosclerosis-related parameters were measured. Results: Compared with normal controls, BD group had significantly higher rates of LVH (63% vs. 42%) and hyperdynamic heart (32% vs. 2%) and higher mean values of LVMI and LVEF. After adjustment for the effects of BMI and age, multiple regression analyses of BD group showed that the peripheral level of interleukin-8 was positively associated with LVMI and the level of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (sTNF-R1) was positively associated with LVEF. Conclusions: Patients with BD from young adulthood are likely to have LVH with normal LV function and hyperdynamic heart associated with diastolic dysfunction. Low-grade inflammation may underlie the mechanisms of LV hypertrophy and cardiac dysfunction in BD patients.