Steady state intravenous tyramine dose pressor-response tests were
administered to a patient with bipolar illness during depressed and
hypomanic phases of her illness. The greatest tyramine sensitivity while
unmedicated occurred when the patient was hypomanic, and the least
sensitivity when she was depressed before her first switch. The data raise
the possibility that changes in peripheral alpha-adrenergic receptor
sensitivity accompany spontaneous mood cycles. Tyramine produced a
replicable mood and cognitive alteration only in the infusion closest to
the switch from hypomania to depression, suggesting that the CNS may be
particularly susceptible to peripheral noradrenergic inputs at specific
points in bipolar illness.Abstract Teaser