Association between dopamine beta-hydroxylase polymorphism and attention function in suicide attempters with chronic schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Patients with schizophrenia are at a higher risk for suicide compared with the general population. Dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DßH) plays a key role in the conversion of dopamine to norepinephrine, which is related to suicidal behavior and cognitive regulation. OBJECTIVE: To examine whether there is the effect of DßH 5'-insertion/deletion (Ins/Del) polymorphism on cognitive performance in suicide attempters with chronic schizophrenia. METHODS: This polymorphism was detected in 114 suicide attempters and 617 non-suicide attempters with chronic schizophrenia. Cognitive performance was assessed by the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). RESULTS: The allelic and genotypic frequencies of this polymorphism between two groups did not differ after controlling for covariates (both, p > .05). There were no differences in RBANS scores between two groups after adjusting for covariates (all, p > .05). However, based on the genotype grouping in suicide attempters and non-attempters, the attention score significantly differed after adjusting for covariates (both, p < .05). Further analysis indicated that this polymorphism was associated with attention score in suicide attempters (p < .05), but not in non-suicide attempters (p > .05). CONCLUSIONS: DßH 5'-Ins/Del polymorphism was not a risk locus of suicide attempters, but it was implicated in attention regulation in suicide attempters with chronic schizophrenia.

Prevalence, social-demographic and cognitive correlates of depression in Chinese psychiatric medical staff.

BACKGROUND: The high prevalence of depression in general population was related to its social-demographics and cognitive performance. However, no studies investigated the prevalence of depression, its social-demographic and cognitive correlates in psychiatric medical staff. Thus, the aims of this study investigated the prevalence, social-demographic and cognitive correlates of depression in Chinese psychiatric medical staff. METHODS: 186 Chinese psychiatric medical staff were enrolled in Wenzhou Kangning Hospital. Depressive symptom score was assessed by the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). Cognition was assessed by the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). RESULTS: The prevalence of depression was 17.74% in these medical staff. The RBANS total score in participants with depressive symptom was significantly lower than that in participants with not depressive symptom after controlling for the confounding variables. The Person correlation analysis found that the normal SDS score in these medical staff was significantly related to age, education, occupations, RBANS total score and subscale scores. Stepwise multivariate regression analysis further identified that age and RBANS total score were significantly associated with the normal SDS score in these medical staff. LIMITATIONS: The limitations included cross-sectional study design, the small sample size, and the self-rating scale of depression. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of depression in Chinese psychiatric medical staff was higher in comparison with Chinese general population, but lower in comparison with Chinese medical staff. Cognitive deficits might be considered a core feather of depression that should be a valuable target for future interventions. Age influenced depressive symptom in these medical staff .