The disorder is frequently unrecognized, misdiagnosed, and not optimally managed. Moreover, no agent has been specifically developed on the basis of an understanding of the pathophysiology of the illness or mechanism of action of effective treatments.
The current gold standard treatment for BP is lithium, whose mood-stabilizing effects are believed to occur via distinct cellular signaling pathways/targets, such as glycogen synthase kinase 3 inhibition (considered to regulate cellular apoptosis), and other potential downstream cellular mechanisms. In addition to lithium, valproate, and carbamazepine, several atypical antipsychotics (including asenapine) are FDA-approved for the treatment of acute bipolar mania (Table).
While these drugs have certainly provided relief for many individuals with BP, significant issues with tolerability and efficacy remain. For instance, clinicians may find themselves in situations in which better-tolerated agents are less effective, and vice versa. In addition, balancing efficacy with adverse effects that affect adherence, such as sedation and weight gain, underscore the urgent need to develop novel and more effective treatments.
Recent clinical findings
Findings from a meta-analysis indicate that the following agents were more effective than placebo for mania: aripiprazole, asenapine, carbamazepine, cariprazine, haloperidol, lithium, olanzapine, paliperidone, quetiapine, risperidone, tamoxifen, valproate, and ziprasidone).4 Limited data suggest large effect sizes for carbamazepine, cariprazine, haloperidol, risperidone, and tamoxifen.
Another large meta-analysis evaluated the comparative efficacy of aripiprazole, asenapine, carbamazepine, valproate, gabapentin, haloperidol, lamotrigine, lithium, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, topiramate, and ziprasidone at therapeutic doses for treatment of acute mania.5 The study concluded that antipsychotic drugs were significantly more effective than mood stabilizers; olanzapine, risperidone, and quetiapine were better tolerated than haloperidol. Risperidone, olanzapine, and haloperidol were particularly efficacious. Most of the trials were short (typically 3 weeks), and therefore caution is needed when extrapolating the results to clinical practice. It is also important to note that because of informed consent and general enrollment issues with manic patients, more severe cases were invariably excluded.
Because strong evidence exists for the use of lithium—and to a somewhat lesser extent, lamotrigine and valproate—as a maintenance treatment for BP, antipsychotics may be increasingly used to treat the acute manic phase of the disorder and mood stabilizers (particularly lithium) may be used for long-term treatment. Nivoli and colleagues6 reviewed the major guidelines for the treatment of manic/hypomanic and mixed episodes and found that all guidelines agreed that concurrent antidepressants should be stopped during a manic/mixed episode.
