Table 1.
Comparison of Subject and Brain Tissue Characteristics
| Normal (n = 19) | Bipolar (n = 18) | P-valuea | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patient characteristics | |||
| Age at death, mean ± S.D. (range) | 42.3 ± 8.2 (29-55) | 39.6 ± 10.3 (25-55) | 0.381 |
| Gender | 14M, 5F | 12M, 6F | |
| Raceb | 12C, 7 UN | 17C, 1AA | |
| Cause of death | |||
| Suicide | 0 | 11 | |
| Cardiopulmonary | 15 | 2 | |
| Accident | 2 | 1 | |
| Other | 2 | 4 | |
| Age at disease onset (mean years ± S.D.) | - | 21.1 ± 8.6 | |
| Duration of disease (mean years ± S.D.) | - | 17.8 ± 7.47 | |
| History of Psychosis (yes/no) | - | 12/6 | |
| Cigarette smoker (yes/no)c | 2/3 | 6/3 | |
| Alcohol abuse severity (low/high)c | 10/1 | 4/6 | |
| Substance abuse severity (low/high)c | 11/0 | 8/5 | |
| Tissue characteristics | |||
| Brain hemisphere | 13L/6R | 7L/11R | |
| Brain mass (mean grams ± S.D.) | 1462 ± 133 | 1429 ± 170 | 0.521 |
| Postmortem interval (mean hours ± S.D.) | 22.6 ± 8.9 | 29.6 ± 14.0 | 0.079 |
| Storage time (mean days ± S.D.) | 330 ± 192 | 626 ± 183 | 0.010 |
| Tissue pH (mean ± S.D.) | 6.3 ± 0.3 | 6.2 ± 0.3 | 0.126 |
a
Unpaired t-test (2-tail).
b
C = Caucasian, AA = African American, UN = Unknown.
c
Smoking status, alcohol abuse severity, and substance abuse severity could not be ascertained for the remaining subjects.