GERI-BD: A Randomized Double-Blind Controlled Trial of Lithium and Divalproex in the Treatment of Mania in Older Patients With Bipolar Disorder.

Objective: Clinicians treating older patients with bipolar disorder with mood stabilizers need evidence from age-specific randomized controlled trials. The authors describe findings from a first such study of late-life mania.

Method: The authors compared the tolerability and efficacy of lithium carbonate and divalproex in 224 inpatients and outpatients age 60 or older with bipolar I disorder who presented with a manic, hypomanic, or mixed episode.

Glucose metabolism in lymphocytes is a regulated process with significant effects on immune cell function and survival.

Lymphocytes require glucose uptake and metabolism for normal survival and function. The signals that regulate the expression and localization of glucose transporter 1 (Glut1) to allow glucose uptake in T cells are now beginning to be understood. Resting T cells require extracellular signals, such as cytokines, hormones, and growth factors, or low-level TCR stimulation to take up adequate glucose to maintain housekeeping functions.

Lack of NPY-induced feeding in cobalt protoporphyrin-treated rats is a postreceptor defect.

The administration of cobalt protoporphyrin results in transient decreases in food intake and prolonged weight loss in rats. After IVC injection of cobalt protoporphyrin, the food intake of treated rats falls to 10% of vehicle-treated control rats within 48 h. At the same time, the concentrations of mRNA for neuropeptide Y increase approximately twofold in the hypothalamus.