A control study of lamotrigine in the treatment of bipolar mood disorder

Objective:To explore the efficacy and safety of lamotrigine in the treatment of bipolar mood disorder.Method:135 patients with bipolar mood disorder were enrolled in the study for 32 weeks,among them 78 patients with bipolar depressive disorder and 57 patients with bipolar manic disorder.In the first 8 weeks,regarded as acute period,all patients were randomly divided into three groups,control group,lamotrigine group and lithium group,with each group including 26 patients with bipolar depressive disorder and 19 patients with bipolar manic disorder.Patients were treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors(SSRI)for bipolar depressive disorder and risperidone for bipolar manic disorder in control group.Patients in lamotrigine group were treated with SSRI plus lamotrigine for bipolar depressive disorder and risperidone plus lamotrigine for bipolar manic disorder.Patients in lithium group were treated with SSRI plus lithium for bipolar depressive disorder and risperidone plus lithium for bipolar manic disorder.In later 24 weeks,regarded as maintain treatment period,all patients were randomly divided into two groups,lamotrigin group(lamotrigine treatment only)and lithium group(lithium treatment only).Hamilton depressive scale(HAMD)and Young manic rating scale(YMRS)to evaluate the efficacy and treatment emergent symptom scale(TESS)to evaluate the safety.Results:Patients in lamotrigine group or lithium group,whatever being bipolar depressive disorder or bipolar manic disorder,had better clinical efficacy than those in control group at the end of acute treatment period(P0.01 or P0.05).Lamotrigine and lithium were better in treating depression and manic respectively in the later maintain treatment period when the two groups compared,with the rate of adverse effect 40% for lithium group and 22% for lamotrigine group.As for the recurrent rate in maintain treatment period,there was no significant difference between lamotrigine group and lithium group(8% vs.11%,P0.05).Conclusion:Lamotrigine,as a mood stabilizer,had better efficacy and less adverse effects in the treatment of bipolar mood disorder,especially better in treating depression when compared with lithium.