Bipolar disorder - translational and prospective studies with focus on lithium treatment

Lithium is the most effective long-term treatment of bipolar disorder and greatly reduces risk of suicide. However, lithium has a narrow therapeutic window and initiation of treatment requires a long period of dose titration.

Moreover, a third of patients do not respond to lithium treatment and it is currently not known why.Here, a multidisciplinary team of psychiatrists, cell and molecular biologists, epidemiologists and engineers will undertake a markedly translational project encompassing five studies over four years with the overall aim of improving lithium treatment of bipolar disorder.Through a national registry study, we aim to improve the understanding of lithium’s effects on somatic health at the population level.

By developing a digital dose-predicting application we aim to reach therapeutic levels of lithium faster.

Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cerebral organoids and other neuronal models will enable us to investigate the neurobiology of lithium response, elucidate lithium’s mechanism of action and facilitate the discovery of new drug targets.

A prospective clinical study will allow us to discover biomarkers of lithium response and validate our findings in vivo.

Finally, by developing point-of-care methods for measuring lithium levels, we will increase compliance and patient participation, improve treatment efficiency and reduce side effects.Overall, this study will improve treatment of bipolar disorder, limit patient suffering and reduce suicide rates.