CHOLINE-CONTAINING COMPOUNDS DETECTED BY PROTON MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY IN THE BASAL GANGLIA IN BIPOLAR DISORDER

Choline-containing cam pounds (Cho) were examined by proton magnetic r esonance spectroscopy (H-1-MRS) in the left subcortical region, includ ing basal ganglia, in 19 euthymic patients with bipolar disorder and 1 9 age-matched normal controls. Ten of the patients were treated with l ithium; the remaining 9 were not treated with lithium far at least 30 d. The Cho to creatine + phosphocreatine (Cr) peak ratio in the bipoIa r patients (0.75 +/- 0.38 [mean +/- SD]) was higher than that in the n ormal controls (0.52 +/- 0.26, P < 0.05). There was no significant dif ference in the Cho:Cr peak ratio between patients treated with lithium (0.63 +/- 0.36) and without lithium (0.89 +/- 0.35). These results do not support the hypothesis that lithium increases the brain choline-c ontaining compounds, but rather imply that membrane breakdown may occu r in the basal ganglia of patients with bipolar disorder.