Elevation of Uric Acid in Serum and Saliva of Patients with Bipolar Disorder

Mohammad Hossein  Hajali; Hamidreza  Karbalaei Musa; Hassan  Shahmiri Barzoki; Babak  Jahangirifard; Banafshe  Dormanesh; Iraj  Mirzaii-Dizgah

doi:10.18502/jimc.v8i4.19542

Mohammad Hossein Hajali Student Research Committee, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hamidreza Karbalaei Musa Student Research Committee, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hassan Shahmiri Barzoki Department of Psychiatry, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Babak Jahangirifard Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care‎, School of Medicine‎, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Banafshe Dormanesh AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Iraj Mirzaii-Dizgah Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jimc.v8i4.19542

Keywords: Bipolar disorder, Serum, Saliva, Uric acid

Abstract

Background: Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a fairly common serious mental illness. A definitive and reliable biomarker remains elusive despite extensive exploration of various serum markers, brain scans, and genetic variants for diagnostic utility in BD. Reports indicate that serum uric acid levels are elevated in BD. This study aimed to determine whether salivary uric acid levels, as a non-invasive method, change in the same way as serum levels in these individuals.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 28 patients aged 18 to 65 with BD based on DSM-5 diagnostic criteria were referred to teaching hospitals of Aja University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, and a control group consisting of 28 healthy individuals of the same gender and age entered the study. The serum and salivary uric acid levels were measured photometrically, and the data were analyzed by Unpaired Student’s t-test using SPSS software.

Results: The mean concentration of serum and unstimulated saliva uric acid was significantly higher in patients than in healthy individuals, and the cut-off point for serum was 6.4 mg/dL with a sensitivity of 79% and a specificity of 68%, and for saliva, it was 3.3 mg/dL with 65% sensitivity and 61% specificity

Conclusion: It seems that the amount of salivary uric acid increases in patients with BD, which may be used as an auxiliary biomarker for monitoring and diagnosis of the disease.