Studies of aberrations in second messenger function may help to elucidate some of the multiple complex neurobiological alterations in bipolar affective disorders. The phosphatidylinositol and calcium ion (Ca2+) second messengers are of particular interest because of evidence of hyperactivity of these signaling mechanisms in both mania and bipolar depression and of their normalization by lithium and other mood-stabilizing treatments. Because the intracellular Ca2+ signal has a biphasic action, a single aberration could explain diverse clinical manifestations of the same illness, and a single action on the messenger could explain the biphasic actions of many treatments for bipolar disorders.
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Dubovsky et al. (1992) studied this question.
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