Management of Medication-Related Cardiometabolic Risk in Patients With Severe Mental Illness.

Management of Medication-Related Cardiometabolic Risk in Patients with Severe Mental Illness.

Curr Cardiovasc Risk Rep. 2013 Aug; 7(4): 283-287
Lang DJ, Barr AM, Procyshyn RM

Severe psychotic disorders, which on their own may be a risk factor for metabolic disorder and cardiovascular illness, are clinically compounded by the significant adverse side effects of antipsychotic medications. The majority of patients with severe psychotic disorders (i.e., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, mania, and depression) must take antipsychotic medications to treat their psychoses and, subsequently, will require efficacious interventions to manage the metabolic consequences of pharmacologic treatment to mitigate excessive mortality associated with cardiovascular illness. We have reviewed the metabolic consequences of antipsychotic treatment and discussed pilot findings from a new nonpharmacologic intervention study looking at the clinical benefits of regular exercise as a management tool for the cardiometabolic risk factors in a cohort with severe mental illness. HubMed – depression

The correlations of disease activity, socioeconomic status, quality of life, and depression/anxiety in chinese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Clin Dev Immunol. 2013; 2013: 270878
Shen B, Tan W, Feng G, He Y, Liu J, Chen W, Huang X, Da Z, Xu X, Liu H, Gu Z

The prevalence of psychological problems is frequent in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and appears to be increasing. The current study investigated the relationship among disease parameters, quality of life, and the psychological status in Chinese patients with SLE. A self-report survey design was administered to 170 SLE patients and 210 healthy individuals using the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, the Self-Rating Depression Scale, and the Short Form 36 health survey (SF-36). Our results showed that 20.3% SLE patients had anxiety, and 32.9% had depression, which were significantly higher than the control group (7.1%, 14.3%, resp.). And there were significant correlations among socioeconomic status (SES), disease activity, and anxiety/depression in SLE patients. Meanwhile, SF-36 analysis results revealed that VT, PF, and RP scales were the most powerful predictors of anxiety of SLE patients, and SLEDAI, VT, PF, SF, and RE domains were significantly accounted for anxiety. In summary, there were significant relationships among disease parameters, quality of life, and anxiety/depression in Chinese SLE patients. Therefore, it is necessary to have psychiatric and psychological evaluations and formulate an integrated approach for managing mental health in Chinese lupus patients, especially those who have high disease activity, low SES, and poor quality of life. HubMed – depression

Phosphorylation of Threonine-19 of PSD-95 by GSK-3? is Required for PSD-95 Mobilization and Long-Term Depression.

J Neurosci. 2013 Jul 17; 33(29): 12122-35
Nelson CD, Kim MJ, Hsin H, Chen Y, Sheng M

Activity of glycogen synthase kinase-3? (GSK-3?) is required for long-term depression (LTD) via molecular mechanisms that are incompletely understood. Here, we report that PSD-95, a major scaffold protein of the postsynaptic density (PSD) that promotes synaptic strength, is phosphorylated on threonine-19 (T19) by GSK-3?. In cultured rat hippocampal neurons, phosphorylation of T19 increases rapidly with chemical LTD and is attenuated by pharmacologic or genetic suppression of GSK-3?. In organotypic rat hippocampal slices, we find that a nonphosphorylatable PSD-95 mutant (T19A) tagged with photoactivatable green fluorescent protein (PAGFP) shows enhanced stability in dendritic spines versus wild-type PSD-95, whereas the phosphomimetic mutant (PSD-95-T19D) is more readily dispersed. Further, overexpression of PSD-95-T19A, but not WT-PSD-95, impairs AMPA receptor internalization and the induction of LTD. These data indicate that phosphorylation on T19 by GSK-3? destabilizes PSD-95 within the PSD and is a critical step for AMPA receptor mobilization and LTD. HubMed – depression