International Journal of Bipolar Disorders (Jun 2023)

Exploratory study of ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation and age of onset of bipolar disorder

  • Michael Bauer,
  • Tasha Glenn,
  • Eric D. Achtyes,
  • Martin Alda,
  • Esen Agaoglu,
  • Kürsat Altınbaş,
  • Ole A. Andreassen,
  • Elias Angelopoulos,
  • Raffaella Ardau,
  • Memduha Aydin,
  • Yavuz Ayhan,
  • Christopher Baethge,
  • Rita Bauer,
  • Bernhard T. Baune,
  • Ceylan Balaban,
  • Claudia Becerra-Palars,
  • Aniruddh P. Behere,
  • Prakash B. Behere,
  • Habte Belete,
  • Tilahun Belete,
  • Gabriel Okawa Belizario,
  • Frank Bellivier,
  • Robert H. Belmaker,
  • Francesco Benedetti,
  • Michael Berk,
  • Yuly Bersudsky,
  • Şule Bicakci,
  • Harriet Birabwa-Oketcho,
  • Thomas D. Bjella,
  • Conan Brady,
  • Jorge Cabrera,
  • Marco Cappucciati,
  • Angela Marianne Paredes Castro,
  • Wei-Ling Chen,
  • Eric Y. W. Cheung,
  • Silvia Chiesa,
  • Marie Crowe,
  • Alessandro Cuomo,
  • Sara Dallaspezia,
  • Maria Del Zompo,
  • Pratikkumar Desai,
  • Seetal Dodd,
  • Bruno Etain,
  • Andrea Fagiolini,
  • Frederike T. Fellendorf,
  • Ewa Ferensztajn-Rochowiak,
  • Jess G. Fiedorowicz,
  • Kostas N. Fountoulakis,
  • Mark A. Frye,
  • Pierre A. Geoffroy,
  • Michael J. Gitlin,
  • Ana Gonzalez-Pinto,
  • John F. Gottlieb,
  • Paul Grof,
  • Bartholomeus C. M. Haarman,
  • Hirohiko Harima,
  • Mathias Hasse-Sousa,
  • Chantal Henry,
  • Lone Hoffding,
  • Josselin Houenou,
  • Massimiliano Imbesi,
  • Erkki T. Isometsä,
  • Maja Ivkovic,
  • Sven Janno,
  • Simon Johnsen,
  • Flávio Kapczinski,
  • Gregory N. Karakatsoulis,
  • Mathias Kardell,
  • Lars Vedel Kessing,
  • Seong Jae Kim,
  • Barbara König,
  • Timur L. Kot,
  • Michael Koval,
  • Mauricio Kunz,
  • Beny Lafer,
  • Mikael Landén,
  • Erik R. Larsen,
  • Melanie Lenger,
  • Rasmus W. Licht,
  • Carlos Lopez-Jaramillo,
  • Alan MacKenzie,
  • Helle Østergaard Madsen,
  • Simone Alberte Kongstad A. Madsen,
  • Jayant Mahadevan,
  • Agustine Mahardika,
  • Mirko Manchia,
  • Wendy Marsh,
  • Monica Martinez-Cengotitabengoa,
  • Julia Martini,
  • Klaus Martiny,
  • Yuki Mashima,
  • Declan M. McLoughlin,
  • Ybe Meesters,
  • Ingrid Melle,
  • Fátima Meza-Urzúa,
  • Pavol Mikolas,
  • Yee Ming Mok,
  • Scott Monteith,
  • Muthukumaran Moorthy,
  • Gunnar Morken,
  • Enrica Mosca,
  • Anton A. Mozzhegorov,
  • Rodrigo Munoz,
  • Starlin V. Mythri,
  • Fethi Nacef,
  • Ravi K. Nadella,
  • Takako Nakanotani,
  • René Ernst Nielsen,
  • Claire O’Donovan,
  • Adel Omrani,
  • Yamima Osher,
  • Uta Ouali,
  • Maja Pantovic-Stefanovic,
  • Pornjira Pariwatcharakul,
  • Joanne Petite,
  • Johannes Petzold,
  • Andrea Pfennig,
  • Yolanda Pica Ruiz,
  • Marco Pinna,
  • Maurizio Pompili,
  • Richard J. Porter,
  • Danilo Quiroz,
  • Francisco Diego Rabelo-da-Ponte,
  • Raj Ramesar,
  • Natalie Rasgon,
  • Woraphat Ratta-apha,
  • Michaela Ratzenhofer,
  • Maria Redahan,
  • M. S. Reddy,
  • Andreas Reif,
  • Eva Z. Reininghaus,
  • Jenny Gringer Richards,
  • Philipp Ritter,
  • Janusz K. Rybakowski,
  • Leela Sathyaputri,
  • Angela M. Scippa,
  • Christian Simhandl,
  • Daniel Smith,
  • José Smith,
  • Paul W. Stackhouse,
  • Dan J. Stein,
  • Kellen Stilwell,
  • Sergio Strejilevich,
  • Kuan-Pin Su,
  • Mythily Subramaniam,
  • Ahmad Hatim Sulaiman,
  • Kirsi Suominen,
  • Andi J. Tanra,
  • Yoshitaka Tatebayashi,
  • Wen Lin Teh,
  • Leonardo Tondo,
  • Carla Torrent,
  • Daniel Tuinstra,
  • Takahito Uchida,
  • Arne E. Vaaler,
  • Eduard Vieta,
  • Biju Viswanath,
  • Maria Yoldi-Negrete,
  • Oguz Kaan Yalcinkaya,
  • Allan H. Young,
  • Yosra Zgueb,
  • Peter C. Whybrow

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345-023-00303-w
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract Background Sunlight contains ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation that triggers the production of vitamin D by skin. Vitamin D has widespread effects on brain function in both developing and adult brains. However, many people live at latitudes (about > 40 N or S) that do not receive enough UVB in winter to produce vitamin D. This exploratory study investigated the association between the age of onset of bipolar I disorder and the threshold for UVB sufficient for vitamin D production in a large global sample. Methods Data for 6972 patients with bipolar I disorder were obtained at 75 collection sites in 41 countries in both hemispheres. The best model to assess the relation between the threshold for UVB sufficient for vitamin D production and age of onset included 1 or more months below the threshold, family history of mood disorders, and birth cohort. All coefficients estimated at P ≤ 0.001. Results The 6972 patients had an onset in 582 locations in 70 countries, with a mean age of onset of 25.6 years. Of the onset locations, 34.0% had at least 1 month below the threshold for UVB sufficient for vitamin D production. The age of onset at locations with 1 or more months of less than or equal to the threshold for UVB was 1.66 years younger. Conclusion UVB and vitamin D may have an important influence on the development of bipolar disorder. Study limitations included a lack of data on patient vitamin D levels, lifestyles, or supplement use. More study of the impacts of UVB and vitamin D in bipolar disorder is needed to evaluate this supposition.