Magnesium and Zinc in Bipolar Disorders

Abstract

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe and recurrent mood disorder. The influence of magnesium and zinc on animal behavior is certain and this has been experimentally demonstrated repeatedly. However, some clinical studies have positively correlated the decrease in the concentration of the two cations with a more severe symptomatology of BD, but in other cases no modified values of the concentration of magnesium and zinc were found or no relationship was identified between these concentrations and the clinical manifestations of the disease. This diversity of results has various causes but the most important of these are: problems regarding the diagnosis of BP and the diagnostic criteria used; the phases of the disease in which the cationic concentrations were determined were different; determination of intracellular magnesium was rarely done; the different ages of the patients and different associated diseases influenced the interpretation of the results. In some studies, the administration of some mood modulators (sodium valproate, carbamazepine or quetiapine) in BD type I hospitalized adult patients during the maniacal episode has increased plasma zinc and erythrocyte magnesium concentration . Missing correlations between how long is the evolution of the disease and the levels of these cations. Existing date support the idea that a low level of magnesium and zinc play a role in pathogenesis of BD. The assertion of a definite beneficial role of the association of magnesium and zinc with mood modulators in BD therapy requires more clinical studies.