The prevalence of psychiatric disorders has increased in recent years. Among existing mental disorders, major depressive disorder (MDD) has emerged as one of the leading causes of disability ...worldwide, affecting individuals throughout their lives. Currently, MDD affects 15% of adults in the Americas. Over the past 50 years, pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, and brain stimulation have been used to treat MDD. The most common approach is still pharmacotherapy; however, studies show that about 40% of patients are refractory to existing treatments. Although the monoamine hypothesis has been widely accepted as a molecular mechanism to explain the etiology of depression, its relationship with other biochemical phenomena remains only partially understood. This is the case of the link between MDD and inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress. Studies have found that depressive patients usually exhibit altered inflammatory markers, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, oxidized mitochondrial DNA, and thus high levels of both central and peripheral reactive oxygen species (ROS). The effect of antidepressants on these events remains unclear. Nevertheless, the effects of ROS on the brain are well known, including lipid peroxidation of neuronal membranes, accumulation of peroxidation products in neurons, protein and DNA damage, reduced antioxidant defenses, apoptosis induction, and neuroinflammation. Antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, tocopherols, and coenzyme Q have shown promise in some depressive patients, but without consensus on their efficacy. Hence, this paper provides a review of MDD and its association with inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress and is aimed at thoroughly discussing the putative links between these events, which may contribute to the design and development of new therapeutic approaches for patients.
Social isolation has been associated with poor sleep quality and mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, most studies have investigated heterogeneous samples subjected to ...varying social distancing policies and did not focus on a single local profile subject to homogeneous prevention policies.
To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and sleep quality in a specific region in the South of Brazil where the populations have similar culture and local governments have adopted similar social distancing policies.
This study was conducted with 327 individuals aged 18-72 years, living in the Vale do Taquari area, Brazil. We assessed sociodemographic variables with a standardized protocol, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress with the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), sleep quality with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and post-traumatic stress symptoms with the Impact of Event Scale (IES-R), using a web-based online survey.
Our results showed that sleep dysfunction moderated the effects of age on psychological symptoms, indicating that younger participants who had poorer sleep quality had worse mental health. Furthermore, participants with more perceived stress during the pandemic and more sleep dysfunction reported more symptoms of anxiety and post-traumatic stress.
Psychological symptoms were not related to social isolation duration but were related to the subjective perception that the pandemic interfered with life and generated stressful situations. These results may help governments make important decisions about protection and isolation measures in future waves of COVID-19 infection.
Abstract Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic, severe, and highly disabling psychiatric disorder; peripheral markers have been used to assess biochemical alterations associated with BD and/or possibly ...involved in its pathophysiology. Beyond neuronal commitment, many groups have proposed the involvement of glial activity in psychiatric disorders. Other biochemical markers, particularly associated with oxidative stress, have been studied in BD. In the present study, we evaluated glial involvement and oxidative stress in patients with BD. Glial activity was assessed by measuring serum S100B content; oxidative stress was assessed using serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and activities of antioxidant enzymes in BD patients during different episodes of disease. We found a significant increment of serum S100B during episodes of mania and depression, but not in euthymic patients. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, as well the SOD/glutathione peroxidase plus catalase ratio, was also increased in manic and depressed patients. On the other hand, TBARS levels were increased in BD patients regardless of the phase of the disorder. These findings suggest a potential oxidative damage in BD patients. This peripheral oxidative imbalance indicates that systemic changes are taking place during the active phases of the illness. Such changes appear to relate to astrocyte function, as indicated by serum S100B elevation.
As the elderly population increases, it is important to identify factors that may reduce risks of dementia in the general population. One such factor is the concept of cognitive reserve (CR). The ...present study analyzed the psychometric properties of the Cognitive Reserve Assessment Scale in Health (CRASH) in the Brazilian population, which was originally developed to measure CR in individuals with severe mental illness. We also investigated the relationship between the CRASH and clinical or sociodemographic variables.
This study was conducted with 398 individuals. We assessed sociodemographic variables and depression, anxiety and stress symptoms (DASS-21), using a web-based survey. We constructed a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model in order to test the goodness of fit of the factor structure proposed in the original CRASH study.
The McDonald's hierarchical ω for CRASH using CFA parameters was 0.61 and Cronbach's alpha coefficient indicated good internal consistency when considering all items (∝ = 0.7).
Our results suggest that CRASH can be used to assess CR in the general population in Brazil.
Bipolar disorder (BD) is one of the most disabling diseases characterized by severe humor fluctuation. It is accompanied by cognitive and functional impairment in addiction to high suicide rates. BD ...is often underdiagnosed and treated incorrectly because many of the reported symptoms are not exclusive to the disorder. Once the diagnosis is exclusively clinical, it is not possible to state precisely. From that, proteomic approaches were used to identify, in a large scale, all proteins involved in cellular or tissue processes. This review aggregate data from blood proteomes, by using protein association network, of subjects with BD and healthy controls to suggest dysfunctional molecular pathways involved in disease. Original articles containing proteomic analysis were searched in PubMed. Seven studies were selected and data were extracted for posterior analysis. A protein-protein interaction network was created by STRING database. A final set of proteins in this network were employed as input in ClueGO and, the main biological process was visualized using R package pathview. The analysis revealed proteins associated with many biological processes, including growth and endocrine regulation, iron transportation, protease inhibition, protection against pathogens and cholesterol transport. Moreover, pathway analysis indicated the association of uncovered proteins with two main metabolic pathways: complement system and coagulation cascade. Thus, a better understanding on the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders and the identification of potential biomarker candidates are essential to improve diagnostic, prognostic and design pharmacological strategies.
A pandemia de COVID-19 e as medidas de contingenciamento como o distanciamento social e a suspensão de atividades presenciais de ensino, apesar de imprescindíveis, podem desencadear maior desconforto ...emocional e aumento do risco de doenças psiquiátricas, em especial, entre os grupos mais vulneráveis. O objetivo desse artigo é discutir os efeitos da pandemia e das medidas de contingenciamento sobre a saúde mental dos estudantes e o papel das instituições de ensino como fator de promoção e proteção de saúde e bem-estar. Para tal, será considerada uma abordagem narrativa, com recortes de pesquisas sobre a saúde mental dos estudantes durante a pandemia e excertos de normativas e diretrizes educacionais sobre as medidas de prevenção e de enfrentamento da COVID-19 às instituições de ensino. Esta revisão evidencia que um número expressivo de estudantes, de diferentes níveis e modalidades de ensino, tiveram que lidar com os efeitos psicológicos causados pela ruptura da rotina pessoal e suspensão do ensino presencial. Os efeitos se revelaram na forma de sentimentos de medo, solidão, angústia, alterações de sono que podem evoluir para sintomas de estresse, ansiedade e depressão. As normativas e diretrizes educacionais, que regulamentam os sistemas educativos no Brasil, evidenciam que a educação deve abranger processos formativos que se desenvolvem na vida familiar, na convivência humana, no trabalho e nas instituições de ensino. Desta forma, concluímos que é papel das instituições de ensino elaborarem planos que contemplem objetivos de aprendizagem que minimizem os impactos psicológicos impostos pela pandemia, contribuindo para a redução das desigualdades educacionais existentes.
Public health interventions at general population level are imperative in order to decrease the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but they may contribute to ...widespread emotional distress and increased risk for psychiatric illnesses. We report on the results of an investigation into the occurrence and determinants of psychiatric symptoms among the Brazilian general population (N = 1996). We assessed sociodemographic variables and general mental health (DSM-5 Self-Rated Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure), depression (PROMIS depression v.8a), anxiety (PROMIS anxiety v.8a), and post-traumatic stress symptoms (Impact of Event Scale-IES-R scale) using an online web-based survey. Anxiety (81.9%), depression (68%), anger (64.5%), somatic symptoms (62.6%) and sleep problems (55.3%) were the most common psychiatric symptoms. Younger age, female gender, low income, lower level of education, longer period of social distancing, and self-reported history of previous psychiatric illness were strongly associated with higher severity of symptoms. Our results support the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of the Brazilian population. The high prevalence of psychiatric symptoms observed in our sample indicates that the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic should be considered a public health problem in Brazil. The health systems and individual clinicians must be prepared to offer and implement specific interventions in order to identify and treat psychiatric issues.
Abstract Objectives As the use of functioning outcomes is increasingly being advocated in multinational clinical trials and comparative studies, making available instruments with known validity and ...reliability in several languages is required. Here we present data on the Portuguese validation of the Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST), which was explicitly designed to gauge functioning dimensions empirically linked to bipolar disorder. Methods One hundred patients with bipolar disorder and matched controls were assessed with the FAST, which was evaluated regarding discriminant, content and construct validity, concurrent validity with functioning instruments, internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Results The FAST displayed a five-factor structure very similar to its conceptualization, successfully discriminated patient and control groups, and correlated highly with other functioning measures; it also showed excellent test–retest reliability and internal consistency. Conclusions The FAST is a measure with sufficient validity and reliability, with potential for the use in international clinical trials and comparative studies.
ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted during 60 days with forty pacu males fed diets supplemented with increasing concentrations of ractopamine (0.00, 11.25, 22.50, 33.75, and 45.00 mg kg−1). Eight ...fish were evaluated for each experimental diet. Performance and survival rate of the fish were measured. At the end of the experiment, blood was collected to determine the levels of cortisol, triacylglycerol, and protein. Moreover, the liver was collected to determine the activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and malic enzymes. The fillets were collected to determine chemical composition, and histologic cuts were analyzed to verify muscle growth and deposition of adipose tissue between muscle fibers. Increasing concentrations of dietary ractopamine did not change feed intake, fillet yield, fillet content of protein and ash, and frequency of relative distribution of muscle fibers. By increasing the dietary ractopamine concentration, the serum cortisol level was elevated. Ractopamine supplementation (45.00 mg kg−1) increased serum levels of triacylglycerol and protein and reduced the activity of hepatic lipogenic enzymes and the survival rate of the fish, probably in response to the high concentration of circulating cortisol. In addition, the higher level of ractopamine supplementation evaluated in this research impaired the weight gain and feed conversion. However, 11.25 mg kg−1 ractopamine reduced the ether extract level determined in the fillet and the fat deposition between muscle fibers, improving the nutritional quality of meat.
Objective:
Previous studies reported decreased N-acetyl aspartate and increased Glx (the sum of glutamate plus glutamine) in bipolar disorder. Since these studies included patients at different ...stages of illness, it is unknown whether these changes have a causal role or a consequence of multiple episodes and treatments. The studies in early-stage bipolar disorder patients have the potential to provide answers to these issues. Therefore, we evaluated N-acetyl aspartate and Glx levels in hippocampi of first-episode bipolar disorder patients and health subjects at baseline and at 12 months, and examined the impact of episode recurrence on these measures.
Method:
We used single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to compare the hippocampal neurometabolites (N-acetyl aspartate and Glx) levels between 41 patients with bipolar disorder following recovery from their first-manic episode and 27 matched healthy subjects at recruitment and 12 months later. We also compared N-acetyl aspartate and Glx levels between patients who had a recurrence of a mood episode and those who did not.
Results:
There was no main effect of either group (diagnosis) or time for hippocampal N-acetyl aspartate and Glx levels in bipolar disorder patients and healthy subjects. We also did not find any group-by-time interaction for the levels of these metabolites. There were also no differences in N-acetyl aspartate and Glx between patients who experienced a recurrence of a mood episode and those who did not over 12-month follow-up.
Conclusion:
Our data suggest that N-acetyl aspartate and Glx levels are not altered in early stage bipolar disorder. Further, these data suggest that episode recurrence in early stages does not have a significant impact on the levels of these metabolites. These may suggest that there may be an early window for intervention to potentially arrest neuroprogression of the disease.
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