Depression and Anxiety

Biography

Biography: Nurul Ain binti Mohamad Kamal

Abstract

Bipolar Disorder (BD) patients are a high-risk group for Suicidal Behavior (SB) with 25-50% having attempted suicide in their lifetime. The role of Oxidative Stress (OS) as potential biomarkers of Suicidal Ideation (SI), a significant risk factor for more serious suicidal acts, has yet to be ascertained. This study investigated the association between OS markers with SI among BD patients, while considering the clinical and psychosocial risk factors for SB. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the UKM Medical Centre on 55 BD patients with and without lifetime SI and 27 Healthy Controls (HC). Lifetime SI, depression severity, illness severity, life events and behavioral impulsivity were assessed. Levels of OS markers (superoxide dismutase, SOD, glutathione peroxidase, GPx, catalase, CAT, malondialdehyde and MDA) were analyzed using standard protocols. Bivariate analysis showed that status of unemployment, lower education, non-supplement user and inpatient setting are significantly different across all groups; highest percentage in BD with lifetime SI. Post-hoc Mann-Whitney test revealed higher CGI-Overall, QIDS and MDA were significantly associated with BD with and without lifetime SI groups, whereas higher CGI-MDE and CAT activity were significantly associated with lifetime SI. CGI-MDE (OR=7.017, 95% CI 1.50-32.82, p=0.013) emerged as the significant independent factor for lifetime SI after performing logistic regression. Our findings suggest that clinician-rated severity of depression appeared to be a more significant factor in differentiating BD patients with lifetime SI and without SI compared with OS markers. Future larger prospective studies are warranted to clarify the possible role of dysregulation of CAT antioxidant enzyme activity in SI among BD patients