Psychological Distress in Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome From Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran.

Psychological distress in women with polycystic ovary syndrome from imam khomeini hospital, tehran.

J Reprod Infertil. 2012 Apr; 13(2): 111-5
Zangeneh FZ, Jafarabadi M, Naghizadeh MM, Abedinia N, Haghollahi F

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex, multifaceted, heterogeneous disorder, affecting 4%-18% of reproductive-aged women and it is associated with reproductive, metabolic and psychological dysfunctions. PCOS affects quality of life and can worsen anxiety and depression either due to the features of PCOS or due to the diagnosis of a chronic disease.In this descriptive-analytical study, 81 patients with PCOS were recruited from Vali-e-Asr Reproductive Health Research Center. A questionnaire with items related to pieces of information about stress was used for data collection. Stress symptoms were assessed using the Understanding Yourself questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS Ver. 13.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, ILL, USA). The data are presented as mean±SD or as frequency with percentages. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.The descriptive results showed that 8 (9.9%) participants did not have any signs of stress, 32 (39.5%) had neurotic stress, 29 (35.8%) had high and 12 (14.8%) had extremely high levels of stress. The odds of high levels of anxiety in women with hirsutism was 3.1 (95% CI, 1.00-9.59). The odds of high levels of obsession in overweight patients was 3.2 (95% CI, 1.12-9.234). The odds of high levels of worries in patients with touchy personality was 3.4 (95% CI, 1.10 – 11.19) obsession score.The present study showed that clinical signs of PCOS were most closely associated with psychological distress which has important implications in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders. HubMed – depression

Whole-exome sequencing identifies a polymorphism in the BMP5 gene associated with SSRI treatment response in major depression.

J Psychopharmacol. 2013 Aug 7;
Tammiste A, Jiang T, Fischer K, Mägi R, Krjutskov K, Pettai K, Esko T, Li Y, Tansey KE, Carroll LS, Uher R, McGuffin P, Võsa U, Tsernikova N, Saria A, Ng PC, Eller T, Vasar V, Nutt DJ, Maron E, Wang J, Metspalu A

Although antidepressants are widely used in the pharmacotherapy of major depressive disorder (MDD), their efficacy is still insufficient as approximately one-third of the patients do not fully recover even after several treatment trials. Inter-individual genetic differences are thought to contribute to the variability in antidepressant response; however, current findings from pharmacogenetic studies are uncertain or not clearly replicated. Here we report the first application of full exome sequencing for the analysis of pharmacogenomics on antidepressant treatment. After 12 weeks of treatment with the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor escitalopram, we selected five clear responders and five clear non-responders for exome sequencing. By comparing the allele counts of previously known single nucleotide polymorphisms and novel polymorphisms we selected 38 markers for further genotyping in two independent patient samples treated with escitalopram (n=116 and n=394). The A allele, carried by approximately 30% of the patients with MDD, of rs41271330 in the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP5) gene showed strong association with worse treatment response in both sample sets (p=0.001), indicating that this is an promising pharmacogenetic marker for prediction of antidepressant therapeutic outcome. HubMed – depression

Cannabinoid modulation of chronic mild stress-induced selective enhancement of trace fear conditioning in adolescent rats.

J Psychopharmacol. 2013 Aug 7;
Reich CG, Iskander AN, Weiss MS

History of stress is considered a major risk factor for the development of major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Elucidating the neurobiological mechanisms of Pavlovian fear conditioning may provide insight into the etiology of PTSD. In the current study, adolescent male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to 3 weeks of a chronic-mild-unpredictable stress (CMS) protocol. Immediately following the CMS, the animals were subjected to hippocampal-dependent (trace and contextual) and hippocampal-independent (delay) fear conditioning. CMS exposure enhanced trace freezing behavior compared to non-stress controls. This effect was not observed in contextual or delay conditioned animals. Given that the endocannabinoid system is negatively affected by CMS procedures, separate groups of stressed rats were administered the CB1 receptor agonist, ACEA (0.1 mg/kg), prior to trace fear conditioning or a memory-recall test. Regardless of administration time, ACEA significantly reduced freezing behavior in stressed animals. Furthermore, when administered during the first memory recall test, ACEA enhanced long-term extinction in both stress and non-stress groups. The results demonstrate that chronic unpredictable stress selectively enhances hippocampal-dependent episodic fear memories. Pathologies of the episodic memory and fear response may increase the susceptibility of developing PTSD. Reduction in fear responses via exogenous activation of the CB1 receptor suggests that a deficiency in the endocannabinoid system contributes to this pathology. HubMed – depression

Mood stabilizer treatment increases serotonin type 1A receptor binding in bipolar depression.

J Psychopharmacol. 2013 Aug 7;
Nugent AC, Carlson PJ, Bain EE, Eckelman W, Herscovitch P, Manji H, Zarate CA, Drevets WC

Abnormal serotonin type 1A (5-HT1A) receptor function and binding have been implicated in the pathophysiology of mood disorders. Preclinical studies have consistently shown that stress decreases the gene expression of 5-HT1A receptors in experimental animals, and that the associated increase in hormone secretion plays a crucial role in mediating this effect. Chronic administration of the mood stabilizers lithium and divalproex (valproate semisodium) reduces glucocorticoid signaling and function in the hippocampus. Lithium has further been shown to enhance 5-HT1A receptor function. To assess whether these effects translate to human subject with bipolar disorder (BD), positron emission tomography (PET) and [18F]trans-4-fluoro-N-(2-[4-(2-methoxyphenyl) piperazino]-ethyl)-N-(2-pyridyl) cyclohexanecarboxamide ([(18)F]FCWAY) were used to acquire PET images of 5-HT1A receptor binding in 10 subjects with BD, before and after treatment with lithium or divalproex. Mean 5-HT1A binding potential (BPP) significantly increased following mood stabilizer treatment, most prominently in the mesiotemporal cortex (hippocampus plus amygdala). When mood state was also controlled for, treatment was associated with increases in BPP in widespread cortical areas. These preliminary findings are consistent with the hypothesis that these mood stabilizers enhance 5-HT1A receptor expression in BD, which may underscore an important component of these agents’ mechanism of action. HubMed – depression