Introduction: During Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, muslims are supposed to avoid from any kind of food, fluid or drug intake from sunrise to sunset. This fasting causes a significant shift of the muslim societies’ daily rhythms. Most of the muslims who fast, tend to have two main courses; “iftar” immediately after the sunset, and “suhoor” before the sunrise.
Objective: We aimed to observe the alteration of plasma mood stabiliser levels of fasting muslim bipolar patients during Ramadan.
Methods: 19 patients followed by outpatient clinic using either lithium or valproic acid (or both) as mood stabilizers have been enrolled during the month of Ramadan in 2009. Two blood samples were obtained on the same day; first (t1) at the 12.th hour after suhoor (approximately 16.00 pm) and the second(t2) just before the iftar (approximately 20.00 pm) to determine any alterations between this time interval, and these values were compared to the ones of previous visits of the patiens before the Ramadan(t0).
Results: The mean Lithium plasma levels of the 11 patients for t0, t1, and t2 were 0.7909 meq/L, 0.8727meq/L, and 0.8418 meq/L respectively. Plasma mean Valproic Acid levels of the 15 patients for t0, t1, and t2 were 64.21 mcg/mL, 76.09 mcg/mL, and 67.69 mcg/mL respectively. Repeated Measures ANOVA test revealed significant effect of sampling time for Valproic Acid (p<0.005), but not for Lithium (p=0.176).
Conclusions: Ramadan might effect plasma levels of mood stabilisers, which should be monitored closely during the month of Ramadan.