Recruiting Now – Role of VMAT in Bipolar Disorder
Investigating the Role of the Vesicular Monoamine Transporter (VMAT) in Bipolar Disorder.
The University of Melbourne are currently looking for 80 volunteers to have a VMAT PET scan and an MRI scan to see if this may help diagnose bipolar disorder from unipolar major depression and guide better use of drugs for treatment of BPDThe monoamine neurotransmitters – dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin – play a role in mood, bipolar disorder and depression. Most drugs used in the treatment of bipolar disorder have effects on these monoamine nerve pathways. VMAT (vesicular monoamine transporters) ready these monoamines for release to pass information along the monoamine nerve cell pathways. Animal studies show VMAT levels increase dramatically when fed lithium and our studies show other drugs used to treat bipolar disorder may do this too. But no-one has looked at what this means for treatment. There has been one study reporting that VMAT may be increased in bipolar disorder even without the effect of drugs but this has not been confirmed. Positron emission tomography (PET) brain scans have been safely used for many years for disorders including Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy. PET can also be used to measure VMAT and reduced VMAT on PET helps diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.
PET images of VMAT at several levels of the brain in a normal volunteer. The slices show monoaminergic neuronal networks at the level of the striatum (caudate nuclei and putamen) (left slice), hypothalamus/nucleus accumbens, raphe nucleus (middle slice) and the midbrain (infundibulum, substantia nigra, raphe nucleus/locus coeruleus, and amygdala) (right slice).
We are looking for 80 persons to have a VMAT PET scan and an MRI scan to see if this may help diagnose bipolar disorder from unipolar major depression and guide better use of drugs for treatment of BPD. We want to find out if elevating VMAT levels is beneficial. Is it required to get benefit or is it associated with side effects such as tremor and drug-induced Parkinsonism? Is there an optimal level for VMAT that might guide drug dosage?
If you are over the age of 21 and have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder or have had one episode of major depression, or you would like to volunteer as a “control” (someone with no history of bipolar or depression) and would like to help with this research by having a VMAT PET scan, please contact the study leader, Dr Alby Elias.
The study has been approved by Victorian Human Research Ethics Committees. The scans are performed at the University of Melbourne and require an injection in the arm of the VMAT PET tracer and then a 20-minute scan in the PET scanner 90 minutes later. In total you will be required for half a day and will be reimbursed $100 for your time. If an MRI is required on another day, you will also be reimbursed $100 for that visit. After two years you will be contacted by phone and asked about any change in your diagnosis and treatment to see if VMAT level can predict bipolar disorder and the effectiveness of drug treatment.
To volunteer for this study please send an email to Dr Alby Elias at alby.elias@unimelb.edu.au. You will be asked questions to confirm your suitability for the study and then sent a detailed information and consent form to sign before appointments are made for the scans.