Gestational and Lactational Exposure to Bisphenol-a Affects Anxiety- and Depression-Like Behaviors in Mice.
Gestational and lactational exposure to bisphenol-A affects anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in mice.
Filed under: Depression Treatment
Horm Behav. 2012 Sep; 62(4): 480-90
Xu X, Hong X, Xie L, Li T, Yang Y, Zhang Q, Zhang G, Liu X
Bisphenol-A (BPA), an environmental endocrine disruptor, has attracted attention because of its adverse effects on the brain and behavioral development. Previous evidence indicates that perinatal exposure to low levels of BPA affects anxiety-like and cognitive behaviors in adult rodents. The present study aims to investigate the changes of anxiety- and depression-like behaviors of perinatally exposed mice in adulthood following the gestational (gestation days 7 to 20) or lactational (postnatal days 1 to 14) exposure to BPA (0.4 or 4 mg/kg/d). The results indicated that both gestational and lactational exposures to BPA increased anxiety and depression-like behavior in mice of both sexes. The females with gestational exposure exhibited an increased anxiety-like state in the four models tested, including the open field, dark-light transition task, mirrored maze, and elevated plus maze tasks. Furthermore, the females with lactational exposure and the males with gestational exposure exhibited an anxiogenic-like behavior in two models, whereas the males with lactational exposure exhibited an anxiogenic-like behavior only in the elevated plus maze test. The results of the forced swim task showed that gestational exposure markedly increased the immobile time in both sexes, and the same effect was induced by lactational exposure only with 4 mg/kg/d BPA. Furthermore, western blot analyses showed that both gestational and lactational exposures inhibited the expression of the AMPA receptor subunit GluR1 in the hippocampus and amygdala in mice of both sexes, whereas the level of the NMDA receptor subunit NR1 was increased in the amygdala following gestational exposure but was reduced in the hippocampus of the females with lactational exposure. These results suggest that both gestational and lactational exposures to BPA increased anxiety- and depression-like behaviors of adult mice of both sexes. In addition gestational exposure exhibited a stronger effect on anxiety-like state in females. The altered levels of AMPA and NMDA receptors in the hippocampus and amygdala may be associated with BPA-induced behavioral changes.
HubMed – depression
Gender differences in the relationship between alcohol use and depressive symptoms in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Filed under: Depression Treatment
J Addict Res Ther. 2012; 3(2):
Zhan W, Shaboltas AV, Skochilov RV, Kozlov AP, Krasnoselskikh TV, Abdala N
BACKGROUND: Gender differences in the relationship between alcohol use and depressive symptoms are inconsistent, and few studies have addressed this issue in Russia. Because this finding may have important implications for interventions to reduce alcohol misuse or alcohol related problems in Russia, we conducted a study to investigate whether the association between alcohol use and depressive symptoms differs by gender at high risk for HIV. METHODS: We used the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale to measure alcohol use and depressive symptoms among 307 patients who attended a clinic for sexually transmitted infections in St. Petersburg, Russia. Logistic regression models were applied for the analysis. RESULTS: The comparison of data between men and women revealed a significant quadratic term of alcohol use and significant interactions between alcohol use and gender on depressive symptoms. Men with an AUDIT score in the first and fourth quartiles were more likely to report depressive symptoms in comparison to men in the second quartile. Their odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were 7.54 (2.00-28.51) and 5.06 (1.31-19.63), respectively. Among women, a linear trend was observed such that those who misused alcohol were three times more likely to have depressive symptoms than those who did not misuse alcohol (OR = 3.03, 95% CI, 1.05-8.80). CONCLUSION: The association between alcohol use and depressive symptoms differed by gender. Additional research is needed to investigate this relationship in Russia. Strategies to reduce alcohol-related problems in Russia may need to consider these differences.
HubMed – depression
Cognitive Aspects of Depression.
Filed under: Depression Treatment
Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci. 2012; 3(3): 301-313
Kircanski K, Joormann J, Gotlib IH
Depression is a prevalent and impairing psychiatric disorder that affects how we feel and how we think about ourselves and the world around us. Cognitive theories of depression have long posited that various thought processes are involved in the development, maintenance, and recurrence of depressive episodes. Contemporary research has utilized experimental procedures to examine cognitive processes in depressed individuals as well as the nature of the relation of these processes to the emotion dysregulation that is central to the disorder. For example, investigators have assessed the ways in which depression alters aspects of information processing, including attention and perception, interpretation, and memory processes; this research has generated relatively consistent findings. In addition, researchers have attempted to identify and elucidate the cognitive mechanisms that may link these biases in information processing to emotion dysregulation in depression. These mechanisms include inhibitory processes and deficits in working memory, ruminative responses to negative mood states, and the inability to use positive and rewarding stimuli to regulate negative mood. Results of these investigations converge on the formulation that depression is associated with increased elaboration of negative information, difficulties in cognitive control when processing this information, and difficulties disengaging from this information. Research examining cognitive aspects of depression not only enhances our understanding of this common and costly disorder, but also has implications for the treatment of depression and for future investigations of the biological foundations of this disorder.
HubMed – depression
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