High-Sensitive c-Reactive Protein Levels in Euthymic Bipolar Patients: Case-Control Study

Bipolar disorder is a chronic, disabling disease that is characterized by the recurrence of thymic episodes. The role of the immune-inflammatory system in the etiopathogenesis of this affection arouses the interest of research. The aim of this work was to determine the plasma levels of the high sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP) in patients with bipolar disorder in remission phase by comparing them to a control group. A case-control cross-sectional study was conducted from 56 subjects with bipolar disorder in clinical remission, and 56 volunteers and healthy control subjects. Mean plasma hs-CRP was significantly higher in patients with bipolar disorder than control subjects. In bipolar patients, a hs-CRP elevation was significantly associated with the disease severity item mean score. Through this study, bipolar disorder appears to be associated with a state of chronic inflammation. This should lead to randomized controlled trials evaluating the value of anti-inflammatory drugs in the management of bipolar disorder.