Association Between the BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism and Chronicity of Depression.

Association between the BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism and Chronicity of Depression.

Psychiatry Investig. 2013 Mar; 10(1): 56-61
Lee Y, Lim SW, Kim SY, Chung JW, Kim J, Myung W, Song J, Kim S, Carroll BJ, Kim DK

Both clinical and biological factors influence the course of depressive disorders. This study tested for associations between the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene at the Val66Met locus and the course of major depressive disorder (MDD).Three hundred ten Korean subjects (209 patients, 101 controls) were genotyped for rs6265 at nucleotide 196 (G/A), which produces an amino acid substitution at codon 66 (Val66Met) of the gene for BDNF. Course of illness was evaluated both by chronicity of current episode (episode duration >24 months) and by the lifetime history of recurrences.Patients with the Met/Met BDNF genotype had a significantly higher rate of chronic depression than all others. There was a significant dose effect of the Met allele on chronicity. Compared with the Val/Val genotype, the relative risk of chronicity was 1.67 for the Val/Met genotype, and 2.58 for the Met/Met genotype. Lifetime history of recurrent episodes was not related to BDNF genotypes but was significantly associated with younger age of onset and with a history of depression in first degree relatives.BDNF genotyping may be informative for anticipating chronicity in major depression. HubMed – depression

 

Depression and general anxiety in the prisoner of war’s children: a cross sectional study.

Med J Islam Repub Iran. 2012 Nov; 26(4): 179-84
Razavi SH, Razavi-Ratki SK, Nojomi MM, Namiranian N

The main aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of depression and general anxiety of the prisoners of war (POW) children. The study was also designed to compare the prevalence of depression and general anxiety amongst the POW’s children and normal adults, 20 years after the Iraq-Iran war.An analytic cross-sectional study carried out in June 2009 in Yazd (the centre of Yazd province in Iran). The target and sampled population were the children of the Iranian POW who lived in Yazd. One hundred and twenty six POW’s children, who were born before 1990 (date of father’s freedom) were assessed. The duration of father’s captivation was between 29-119 months. Ninety-five subjects accepted to participate. General anxiety and major depression were assessed by Persian version of Hamilton Scale for anxiety and Beck depression Inventory. This study was a combination of the psychological interview and questionnaire. Ninety five of normal adult group were also paired matched and assessed.Among 126 POW’s children who fulfilled the inclusion criteria, the responsive rate was 75.3% (95 participants). The mean age of participants was 28.3 (SD: 5.34).The father’s captivation duration were 29-119 months (mean: 79.2, SD: 21.6). The prevalence of depression and general anxiety amongst the POW’s children were 48.4% and 79%. The prevalence of depression and general anxiety among the paired group were 21.1% and 63.2%.The differences between two groups were significant (p =0.000).In this study we have demonstrated the prevalence of major depression and general anxiety in POW’s children and a normal adult sample. The differences of major depression and general anxiety among the two groups were significant. HubMed – depression

 

The neural correlates of regulating positive and negative emotions in medication-free major depression.

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2013 Mar 11;
Greening SG, Osuch EA, Williamson PC, Mitchell DG

Depressive cognitive schemas play an important role in the emergence and persistence of major depressive disorder (MDD). The current study adapted emotion regulation techniques to reflect elements of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and related psychotherapies to delineate neurocognitive abnormalities associated with modulating the negative cognitive style in MDD. Nineteen non-medicated patients with MDD and 19 matched controls reduced negative or enhanced positive feelings elicited by emotional scenes while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. Although both groups showed significant emotion regulation success as measured by subjective ratings of affect, the controls were significantly better at modulating both negative and positive emotion. Both groups recruited regions of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex when regulating both negative and positive emotions. Only in controls was this accompanied by reduced activity in sensory cortices and amygdala. Similarly, both groups showed enhanced activity in ventral striatum when enhancing positive affect; however, only in controls was activity correlated with regulation efficacy. The results suggest that depression is associated with both a reduced capacity to achieve relief from negative affect despite recruitment of ventral and dorsal prefrontal cortical regions implicated in emotion regulation, coupled with a disconnect between activity in reward-related regions and subjective positive affect. HubMed – depression