Cognitive impairment and factors influencing depression in adolescents with suicidal and self-injury behaviors: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts (SAs) by adolescent patients with depression have become serious public health problems. There is still insufficient research evidence on the effects of NSSI and SAs on neurocognitive functioning in adolescents. Cognitive function alterations may be associated with SAs and self-injury. NSSI and SAs have different influencing factors. METHODS: Participants were recruited from outpatient clinics and included 142 adolescent patients with depression (12-18 years old). This cohort included the SAs group (n = 52), NSSI group (n = 65), and depression without SAs/NSSI control group (n = 25). All participants underwent a clinical interview and neuropsychological assessment for group comparisons, and post-hoc tests were performed. Finally, partial correlation analysis was used to explore factors related to changes in cognitive function. RESULTS: The SAs group performed significantly worse than the control group in executive function and working memory. The depression score was directly proportional to the executive function of the SAs group, whereas cognitive functioning in the NSSI group was associated with borderline traits and rumination. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that impairment of executive function and working memory may be a common pattern in adolescent depressed patients with SAs. However, borderline traits and rumination may be indicative of NSSI but not SAs.

The role of family and peer factors in the development of early adolescent depressive symptoms: A latent class growth analysis.

Few studies have explored the trajectories of Chinese early adolescent depressive symptoms or comprehensively considered the factors of family and peers. The present study aimed to identify the trajectories of depressive symptoms in early adolescence using a school-based sample assessed in three waves. The study also examined whether family and peer factors were significant predictors. A total of 586 Chinese primary and middle school students participated in the survey. A growth mixture model was used to find the trajectories of depressive symptoms, and multinominal logistic regression was used to identify the predictors. Three trajectories were identified, including a stable-low class, an increasing class, and a high-decreasing class. Results indicated that gender, parental psychological aggression and neglect, parental psychological control, traditional bullying/cyberbullying victimization, and friendship quality were significant predictors. However, witnessing intimate partner violence, parental behavior control, and traditional bullying/cyberbullying perpetration could not significantly predict the trajectories. The findings of this study can provide an empirical basis for teachers and clinical interveners to determine different development trajectories of depressive symptoms and carry out prevention and intervention.

APOE ε4 allele elevates the expressions of inflammatory factors and promotes Alzheimer's disease progression: A comparative study based on Han and She populations in the Wenzhou area.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the impact of apolipoprotein E 4 (APOE4) gene polymorphisms on the expressions of inflammatory factors and the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: A total of 185 AD patients (the case group, 130 cases from the Han ethnic group and 55 cases from the She ethnic group) and 190 healthy individuals (the control group, 130 cases from the Han ethnic group and 60 cases from the She ethnic group) were recruited for our study. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was conducted to detect APOE4 genotype and allele frequency. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine the expressions of inflammatory factors in plasma. RESULTS: In both Han and She populations, the frequency of ε3/4 and ε4/4 genotypes and the ε4 allele was significantly higher in the case group than that in the control group. ε3/4 and ε4/4 genotypes and the ε4 allele were the risk factors for AD. In both Han and She populations, the ε2/4, ε3/4 and ε4/4 carriers showed increased levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1ß when compared with the ε2/2 + ε2/3 + ε3/3 carriers. The TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1ß levels were higher in the ε4/4 carriers than those in the ε2/4 and ε3/4 carriers, and ε2/4, ε3/4 and ε4/4 carriers in the case group exhibited increased levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1ß when compared with the control group (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis indicated that the ε3/4 genotype and TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1ß levels were associated with the susceptibility to AD in the Han population, while ε3/4 and ε4/4 genotypes and TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1ß levels were related to the susceptibility to AD in the She population. CONCLUSIONS: The APOE4 ε4 allele may enhance susceptibility to AD and promotes the expressions of inflammatory factors in AD.