Aberrant intracellular calcium signaling in olfactory neurons from patients with bipolar disorder.

Objective: The authors examined the feasibility of using olfactory receptor neurons from living patients to test whether calcium signaling is altered in a neuronal cell population in bipolar disorder.

Method: Ratiometric fluorescence photomicroscopy was used to assess basal and stimulus-induced changes in intracellular calcium levels in biopsy-derived olfactory receptor neurons from seven euthymic patients with bipolar disorder who were medication-free, 10 euthymic patients with bipolar disorder who were treated with mood stabilizers, and 17 age- and sex-matched comparison subjects without bipolar disorder.

Results: Olfactory receptor neurons from the seven medication-free patients responded to stimuli predominantly with decreases in intracellular calcium, unlike those from the seven matched healthy subjects.