Table 5.
Measures associated with vs. without low eGFR among 2669 assays in 312 bipolar disorder subjects treated long-term with lithium
| Measure | Low eGFRa | Normal eGFR | p-value [χ 2 or t-score] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age at assay | 62.7 [61.4–64.0] | 48.0 [47.5–48.5] | <0.0001 [18.3] |
| Medical comorbidity (%)b | 83.5 | 59.5 | <0.0001 [41.3] |
| Lithium exposure | |||
| Years treated | 19.6 [18.5–20.7] | 11.2 [10.9–11.5] | <0.0001 [16.3] |
| Mean dose | 588 [554–622] | 884 [871–896] | <0.0001 [15.5] |
| Mean serum [Li+] | 0.65 [0.63–0.68] | 0.66 [0.65–0.67] | 0.32 [0.99] |
| Physiological measures | |||
| BUN | 36.7 [34.3–39.1] | 24.6 [24.0–25.2] | <0.0001 [12.6] |
| [Glucose] | 108 [103–112] | 95.8 [94.4–97.2] | <0.0001 [5.88] |
| BMI | 28.5 [26.2–30.8] | 26.4 [25.9–26.9] | 0.03 [2.22] |
Means are with 95% CI. Serum lithium concentration is in mEq/L; dose is of lithium carbonate is total mg/day. Additional factors not associated with low eGFR: (1) diagnosis (bipolar I vs. bipolar II), (2) education, (3) metabolic syndrome (overall risk = 30.4%), (4) any substance abuse, (5) alcohol abuse, (6) smoking, (7) any suicidal act, (8) serum TSH. Medical illnesses include cardiovascular and metabolic syndromes
aLow eGFR: subjects with at least one value <60 mL/min/1.73 m2; the observed rate of such subjects was 92/312 (29.5%), but 312/2669 assays (11.3%)
bMost frequent medical comorbidities are: cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, hypothyroidism, and respiratory diseases