Available online 2 July 2022, 101013

Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) in euthymia show elevated levels of insulin and leptin.

Other mood phases may not be related to alterations of appetite-regulating hormones.

Higher levels of insulin in BD might be associated with male sex.

Higher adiponectin levels may be associated with illness progression and type I BD.

Impaired hormonal regulation of appetite may contribute to higher cardiovascular risk in bipolar disorder (BD). We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies investigating peripheral blood levels of appetite-regulating hormones in BD and controls. A total of 32 studies were included. Leptin and insulin levels were significantly elevated in patients with BD during euthymia, but not in other mood states. Greater differences in the number of male participants between patients with BD and healthy controls were associated with higher effect size estimates for the levels of insulin. There were significant positive correlations of effect size estimates for the levels of adiponectin with the percentage of individuals with type I BD and duration of BD. Our findings point to the mechanisms underlying high rates of cardiometabolic comorbidities in BD. Moreover, they suggest that investigating hormonal regulation of appetite might help to understand differences in the neurobiology of BD types.

mood disorder

depression

adiposity

obesity

overweight

© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc.