Research from Johnson & Johnson Reveals New Findings on Bipolar Disorders (Lack of association between the brain penetrance of calcium channel blockers and the incidence of neuropsychiatric outcomes: a retrospective, multidatabase cohort study).

This article reports on a retrospective, multidatabase cohort study conducted by Johnson & Johnson researchers in Horsham, Pennsylvania, examining the association between brain-penetrant calcium channel blockers (BP-CCBs) versus non-brain-penetrant calcium channel blockers (NP-CCBs) and the incidence of neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD), and bipolar disorder. Using data from nine global claims and electronic health record databases encompassing over 10 million patients, the study found no significant difference in the risk of these neuropsychiatric outcomes between BP-CCB and NP-CCB users. The research employed large-scale propensity matching and Cox models to control for confounding factors and assess time to diagnosis, concluding that brain penetrance of calcium channel blockers does not appear to influence the incidence of these mental health conditions. However, the study does not exclude the possibility that specific CCB formulations targeted to the brain might have beneficial effects. [Extracted from the article]