Serum galectin-3 and S100-B levels in bipolar disorder: correlation with emotion regulation, functioning and cognitive functions. Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, department of psychiatry

Bipolar disorder (BD); It is a mental illness that can reduce the quality of life and progresses with cognitive impairment even in euthymic periods. The lifetime prevalence of bipolar disorder has been reported as 0.3 - 1.2%. It is known that a course of the disease with very recurrent disease episodes determines residuals between periods, chronic course, inadequate response to current treatments, and there are no biomarkers that can be used to monitor diagnosis and treatment response. The immune inflammatory system is an area where important findings in the pathophysiology of BD have emerged in recent years and an increasing number of studies have been conducted. In this study, the relationship of serum levels of Gal-3 and S100-B, which are inflammatory molecules, with emotion regulation, functionality and cognitive functions in BD patients was compared with healthy controls. In this study, 50 patients who applied to the psychiatry outpatient clinic between October 2021 and January 2022 and were diagnosed with BD according to the clinical interview (SCID-5) structured according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) and 50 healthy volunteers who were matched with the patient group in terms of age-sex-education level and who did not have a current or past psychiatric diagnosis according to SCID-5 were recruited. All participants were interviewed by the research psychiatrist. The patients were evaluated by the clinical investigator on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST), Bipolar Disorder Functioning Questionnaire (BDFQ), Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Trail Making Test (TMT-A, TMT-B); Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Trail Making Test (TMT-A, TMT-B) were administered to healthy volunteers by the clinical investigator. White blood cell count (WBC), percentage of neutrophils (%Neu), calculated neutrophil/lymphocyte ratios (NLR), CRP, ferritin, procalcitonin levels, and serum Gal-3 and S100-B levels measured with the ELISA kit were recorded in patients and healthy controls. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the correlation of Gal-3 and S100-B with emotion regulation, functionality and cognitive functions in BD patients compared with healthy controls. The results obtained contribute to the medical literature on the etiopathogenesis of BD and the role of inflammatory processes. Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are the most important areas that play a role in progression in BD. In the light of these findings, it can be suggested that Gal-3 and/or S100-B may also be among the possible drug targets that may prevent the progression of cognitive impairment in BD. Larger sample studies with longitudinal follow-up are needed to clarify the correlation between the impairment in emotion regulation, functionality, and cognitive functions in BD with Gal-3 and S100-B.