Mood Disorders Research Laboratory

About

Our laboratory focuses on the examination of the pathophysiology and pathoetiology of bipolar disorder.  We focus on utilizing models of the disorder.  These include animal models (we developed the only animal model of bipolar illness that fulfills all validation criteria for a psychiatric animal model), and cellular models (we developed a unique cellular model which utilizes olfactory neuroepithelial progenitor cells that were obtained from patients with bipolar disorder, and matched non-bipolar controls).  We focus on ion dysregulation in patients with bipolar disorder.  Our current focus is endogenous ouabain which regulates the sodium pump and may be either increased or reduced in patients with bipolar illness.  We are investigating if production of this compound is disregulated in patients with bipolar disorder.

Key Research Areas

Animal model for Bipolar Disorder
Cellular model for Bipolar Disorder
Role of Endogenous Ouabain in Bipolar Disorder

Current Projects

Role of Endogenous Ouabain in Bipolar Disorder

Team

Laboratory Director:  Rif S. ElMallakh, rselma01@louisville.edu
Research Scientist:  Ranganathan Parthasarathy, ranganathan.parthasarathy@louisville.edu

Recent Publications

May PB Jr, El-Mallakh RS. Preservation of Muscle during Treatment for Obesity in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities. South Med J. 2024 Sep;117(9):529-533. doi: 10.14423/SMJ.0000000000001731. PMID: 39227044.
Aydin IH, El-Mallakh RS. Concept article: Antidepressant-induced destabilization in bipolar illness mediated by serotonin 3 receptor (5HT3). Bipolar Disord. 2024 Sep 1. doi: 10.1111/bdi.13494. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39218660.
Crump CJ, Abuelazm H, Ibrahim K, Shah S, El-Mallakh RS. An overview of the efficacy and safety of brexpiprazole for the treatment of schizophrenia in adolescents. Expert Rev Neurother. 2024 Aug;24(8):727-733. doi: 10.1080/14737175.2024.2367695. Epub 2024 Jul 5. PMID: 38864423.
Valvassori SS, Peper-Nascimento J, Aguiar-Geraldo JM, Hilsendeger A, Daminelli T, Juruena MF, El-Mallakh RS, Quevedo J. Biological rhythms are correlated with Na+, K+-ATPase and oxidative stress biomarkers: A translational study on bipolar disorder. J Affect Disord. 2023 Nov 1;340:877-885. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.08.042. Epub 2023 Aug 11. PMID: 37572705.
Pahwa M, McElroy SL, Priesmeyer R, Siegel G, Siegel P, Nuss S, Bowden CL, El-Mallakh RS. KIOS: A smartphone app for self-monitoring for patients with bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disord. 2024 Feb;26(1):84-92. doi: 10.1111/bdi.13362. Epub 2023 Jun 20. PMID: 37340215; PMCID: PMC10730767.
Elsayed OH, El-Mallakh RS. Catatonia Secondary to Depolarization Block. Asian J Psychiatr. 2023 Jun;84:103543. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2023.103543. Epub 2023 Mar 15. PMID: 37028234.
Gao Y, Mack AA, Litteral C, Delamere NA, El-Mallakh RS. NMDA receptor inhibition prevents intracellular sodium elevations in human olfactory neuroepithelial precursors derived from bipolar patients. Sci Rep. 2022 Jun 21;12(1):10437. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14187-w. PMID: 35729322; PMCID: PMC9213398.
Farooqui AA, Gao Y, Coghlan MA, El-Mallakh RS. No NLRP3 Inflammasome Expression in the Ouabain Animal Model of Bipolar Disorder. Cureus. 2022 May 5;14(5):e24765. doi: 10.7759/cureus.24765. PMID: 35676979; PMCID: PMC9167426.
El-Mallakh RS, Sampath VP, Horesh N, Lichtstein D. Endogenous Cardiac Steroids in Bipolar Disorder: State of the Art. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Feb 6;23(3):1846. doi: 10.3390/ijms23031846. PMID: 35163766; PMCID: PMC8836531.
El-Mallakh RS, Gao Y, Roberts M, Hamlyn J. Sleep deprivation is associated with increased circulating levels of endogenous ouabain: Potential role in bipolar disorder. Psychiatry Res. 2022 Mar;309:114399. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114399. Epub 2022 Jan 17. PMID: 35078006.