Striatal Dopamine Transporter Availability is Associated with Sleep Disturbance among Patients with Bipolar I Disorder: A Single-photon Emission Computed Tomography Study Using [Tc] TRODAT-1.

Objective: Bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by the poor sleep quality. Whether the striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) availability is related to sleep quality among patients with BD is unclear.

Methods: Fifty-three euthymic patients with BD (24 BD-I and 29 BD-II) and sixty-eight healthy controls were enrolled. The Chinese Version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used, and the availability of DAT was assessed by single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using [Tc] TRODAT-1.

Results: The sleep disturbance component of the PSQI was significantly associated with the level of DAT availability among patients with BD.

Conclusion: The striatal dopaminergic activity that contributes to resilience to adversity was associated with sleep pattern among patients with BD.