Bipolar patients referred to specialized services of care: Not resistant but impaired by sub-syndromal symptoms. Results from the FACE-BD cohort.

Objective: A national network of expert centers for bipolar disorders was set up in France to provide support, mainly for psychiatrists, who need help for managing bipolar disorder patients. The aims of this article are to present the main characteristics of the patients referred to an expert center in order to highlight the major disturbances affecting these patients and to understand the most significant difficulties encountered by practitioners dealing with bipolar disorder patients.

Methods: Patients were evaluated by trained psychiatrists and psychologists, with standardized and systematic assessment using interviews and self-report questionnaires.

Polymorphism of Toll-like receptor 4 gene in bipolar disorder.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is considered as a multifactorial disorder involving complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors, where immune dysfunction is thought to play a key etiopathogenic role. In particular, excess of winter births associated with early-life infections raise the possibility of the implication of innate immunity. Given the pivotal role of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4), a major innate immune sensor molecule, we hypothesized that genetic variations of TLR-4 may be associated to BD.

Staging and neuroprogression in bipolar disorder.

The apparently progressive nature of a considerable proportion of cases of bipolar disorder (BD) has been acknowledged in recently proposed clinical staging models. This has been part of an attempt to facilitate and refine diagnosis, treatment selection, and establish a prognosis. The study of the progressive nature of some cases of BD has given raise to the hypothesis of neuroprogression, which postulates that different stages of BD are associated with distinct neurobiological underpinnings.

High prevalence and prescription of benzodiazepines for elderly: data from psychiatric consultation to patients from an emergency room of a general hospital.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to compare the use and prescription of psychotropic drugs, with emphasis on benzodiazepines, in elderly and non-elderly patients who are assisted at the emergency room by a psychiatric consultation of a university teaching hospital.

Method: This is a cross-sectional study. We analyzed all records of psychiatric consultation in an emergency room of a general hospital from March 2009 until March 2010.