<p>I am not from a pure field of neuroscience so I did a bit of research. (Part put in bold by me is the bit which pertains to Bipolar Disorder (BPD))</p>

<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Simon_Young3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Simon N Young</a> of McGill University in Montréal, Quebec, Canada said in <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_do_we_measure_neurotransmitters_in_urine_and_blood_serum" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ResearchGate</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>While catecholamines and serotonin in the blood and urine are not derived from the brain sometimes, for reasons that are not known, they do reflect brain levels. For example, urinary dopamine is low in Parkinson's disease (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.133.3465.1706-a" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Barbeau, Murphy &amp; Sourkes, 1961</a>) even though urinary dopamine levels are thought to be derived mainly from dopamine formation in the kidney. However, urinary dopamine is not a diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease. <strong>There are many papers that measured serotonin related compounds in blood or plasma in psychiatric disorders and there is evidence that sometimes there can be a correlation between blood, or plasma, and brain measures (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-3205(93)90237-W" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Yan, et. al. 1993</a>)</strong>.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The Lundbeck Institute's Brain Explorer website explains that studies of serotonin receptors show "substantial evidence for the role of serotonin in patients with bipolar disorder." Research about serotonin and the way it is metabolized indicates a reduced concentration of serotonin metabolites in bipolar disorder patients (<a href="https://www.livestrong.com/article/239135-effects-of-serotonin-on-bipolar-disorder/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Source</a>).</p>

<p>A quick Google Scholar search for "bipolar disorder and serotonin" produces a list of many studies including:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2003.09.017" rel="nofollow noreferrer">López-Figueroa, et al. (2004)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.58.6.539" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mundo, et al. (2001)</a> and</li>
<li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4000256" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rees et al. (1997)</a>.</li>
</ul>

<p>For the bit I do know a bit about, treatment for problems with serotonin levels include SSRIs — Fluoxetine, Paroxetine or Sertraline for example — which work by <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ssri-antidepressants/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">increasing serotonin levels in the brain</a>.</p>

<p><strong>References</strong></p>

<p>Barbeau, A., Murphy, G. F., &amp; Sourkes, T. L. (1961). Excretion of dopamine in diseases of basal ganglia. <em>Science</em>, 133(3465), 1706-1707.<br>DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.133.3465.1706-a" rel="nofollow noreferrer">10.1126/science.133.3465.1706-a</a> PMID: <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13686753" rel="nofollow noreferrer">13686753</a></p>

<p>López-Figueroa, A. L., Norton, C. S., López-Figueroa, M. O., Armellini-Dodel, D., Burke, S., Akil, H., ... &amp; Watson, S. J. (2004). Serotonin 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B, and 5-HT2A receptor mRNA expression in subjects with major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Biological psychiatry, 55(3), 225-233.<br>
DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2003.09.017" rel="nofollow noreferrer">10.1016/j.biopsych.2003.09.017</a></p>

<p>Mundo, E., Walker, M., Cate, T., Macciardi, F., &amp; Kennedy, J. L. (2001). The role of serotonin transporter protein gene in antidepressant-induced mania in bipolar disorder: preliminary findings. Archives of general psychiatry, 58(6), 539-544.<br>
DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.58.6.539" rel="nofollow noreferrer">10.1001/archpsyc.58.6.539</a></p>

<p>Rees, M., Norton, N., Jones, I., McCandless, F., Scourfield, J., Holmans, P., ... &amp; Redman, K. (1997). Association studies of bipolar disorder at the human serotonin transporter gene (hSERT; 5HTT). Molecular psychiatry, 2(5), 398.<br>
DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4000256" rel="nofollow noreferrer">10.1038/sj.mp.4000256</a></p>

<p>Yan, D., Urano, T., Pietraszek, M. H., Shimoyama, I., Uemura, K., Kojima, Y., ... &amp; Takada, A. (1993). Correlation between serotonergic measures in cerebrospinal fluid and blood of subhuman primate. <em>Life sciences</em>, 52(8), 745-749.<br>
DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-3205(93)90237-W" rel="nofollow noreferrer">10.1016/0024-3205(93)90237-W</a> PMID: <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7680408" rel="nofollow noreferrer">7680408</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-29T01:36:54.837Z
a key point though is that it is not like there is a "healthy" level of serotonin and an "unhealthy" level that you can draw a line between and have "healthy" people fall on one side of the line and "unhealthy" people fall on the other side.
honi
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-25T12:48:11.747Z
2018-04-25T13:11:03.583Z
2018-04-25T13:11:03.583Z
Chris Rogers
<p>Is there a way to measure what neurotransmitters (and in what amount) are present in a person via blood or other method? I feel like if such information was available there could be experiments regarding the tracking and treatment of many mental disorders, but most specifically Bipolar Disorder. For example, if there could be an established "norm" of neurotransmitter levels you could then find the levels a person has and alter them via a mixture of drugs and monitor the levels periodically. This wouldn't require MRI imaging because you wouldn't be tracking when the neurotransmitters were triggered but the levels, the triggering/action potentials would be changed through cognitive behavioral and dialectal behavioral therapy. This is a alight ramble but i would appreciate any thoughts or insight.</p>

<psychopharmacology><bipolar-disorder><neuro-transmitters><experimental-neuroscience>
experimental tracking and treating bipolar disorder
isabella citarello
# experimental tracking and treating bipolar disorder

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-04-24)

Is there a way to measure what neurotransmitters (and in what amount) are present in a person via blood or other method? I feel like if such information was available there could be experiments regarding the tracking and treatment of many mental disorders, but most specifically Bipolar Disorder. For example, if there could be an established "norm" of neurotransmitter levels you could then find the levels a person has and alter them via a mixture of drugs and monitor the levels periodically. This wouldn't require MRI imaging because you wouldn't be tracking when the neurotransmitters were triggered but the levels, the triggering/action potentials would be changed through cognitive behavioral and dialectal behavioral therapy. This is a alight ramble but i would appreciate any thoughts or insight.

**Tags:** psychopharmacology, bipolar-disorder, neuro-transmitters, experimental-neuroscience


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-04-25. Score: 1

I am not from a pure field of neuroscience so I did a bit of research. (Part put in bold by me is the bit which pertains to Bipolar Disorder (BPD))

[Simon N Young](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Simon_Young3) of McGill University in Montréal, Quebec, Canada said in [ResearchGate](https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_do_we_measure_neurotransmitters_in_urine_and_blood_serum):

> While catecholamines and serotonin in the blood and urine are not derived from the brain sometimes, for reasons that are not known, they do reflect brain levels. For example, urinary dopamine is low in Parkinson's disease ([Barbeau, Murphy & Sourkes, 1961](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.133.3465.1706-a)) even though urinary dopamine levels are thought to be derived mainly from dopamine formation in the kidney. However, urinary dopamine is not a diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease. **There are many papers that measured serotonin related compounds in blood or plasma in psychiatric disorders and there is evidence that sometimes there can be a correlation between blood, or plasma, and brain measures ([Yan, et. al. 1993](https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-3205(93)90237-W))**.

The Lundbeck Institute's Brain Explorer website explains that studies of serotonin receptors show "substantial evidence for the role of serotonin in patients with bipolar disorder." Research about serotonin and the way it is metabolized indicates a reduced concentration of serotonin metabolites in bipolar disorder patients ([Source](https://www.livestrong.com/article/239135-effects-of-serotonin-on-bipolar-disorder/)).

A quick Google Scholar search for "bipolar disorder and serotonin" produces a list of many studies including:

* [López-Figueroa, et al. (2004)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2003.09.017)
* [Mundo, et al. (2001)](https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.58.6.539) and
* [Rees et al. (1997)](https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4000256).

For the bit I do know a bit about, treatment for problems with serotonin levels include SSRIs — Fluoxetine, Paroxetine or Sertraline for example — which work by [increasing serotonin levels in the brain](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ssri-antidepressants/).

**References**

Barbeau, A., Murphy, G. F., & Sourkes, T. L. (1961). Excretion of dopamine in diseases of basal ganglia. *Science*, 133(3465), 1706-1707.  
DOI: [10.1126/science.133.3465.1706-a](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.133.3465.1706-a) PMID: [13686753](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13686753)

López-Figueroa, A. L., Norton, C. S., López-Figueroa, M. O., Armellini-Dodel, D., Burke, S., Akil, H., ... & Watson, S. J. (2004). Serotonin 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B, and 5-HT2A receptor mRNA expression in subjects with major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Biological psychiatry, 55(3), 225-233.  
DOI: [10.1016/j.biopsych.2003.09.017](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2003.09.017)

Mundo, E., Walker, M., Cate, T., Macciardi, F., & Kennedy, J. L. (2001). The role of serotonin transporter protein gene in antidepressant-induced mania in bipolar disorder: preliminary findings. Archives of general psychiatry, 58(6), 539-544.  
DOI: [10.1001/archpsyc.58.6.539](https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.58.6.539)

Rees, M., Norton, N., Jones, I., McCandless, F., Scourfield, J., Holmans, P., ... & Redman, K. (1997). Association studies of bipolar disorder at the human serotonin transporter gene (hSERT; 5HTT). Molecular psychiatry, 2(5), 398.  
DOI: [10.1038/sj.mp.4000256](https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4000256)

Yan, D., Urano, T., Pietraszek, M. H., Shimoyama, I., Uemura, K., Kojima, Y., ... & Takada, A. (1993). Correlation between serotonergic measures in cerebrospinal fluid and blood of subhuman primate. *Life sciences*, 52(8), 745-749.  
DOI: [10.1016/0024-3205(93)90237-W](https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-3205(93)90237-W) PMID: [7680408](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7680408)

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: a key point though is that it is not like there is a "healthy" level of serotonin and an "unhealthy" level that you can draw a line between and have "healthy" people fall on one side of the line and "unhealthy" people fall on the other side.  

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