Attachment Insecurity and Stigma as Predictors of Depression and Anxiety in People Living With HIV.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine whether attachment insecurity, stigma, and certain demographic and medical factors predict depression and anxiety in people living with HIV (PLWH). METHODS: Participants were 147 PLWH who visited the outpatient infection clinic in Kyungpook National University Hospital (KNUH; Daegu, South Korea) between June 2020 and January 2021. We measured HIV-related stigma, attachment anxiety and avoidance, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis showed that unemployment, longer time receiving antiretroviral therapy, higher attachment avoidance, and higher attachment anxiety were significant predictors of depression. Results also showed that longer time receiving antiretroviral therapy, higher attachment anxiety, and concern with public attitudes were significant predictors of anxiety. CONCLUSION: In addition to education to reduce public stigma, interventions to reduce PLWH's self-stigma should continue. We suggest attachment-based psychotherapy as an effective intervention to improve PLWH's mental health.

Serum-Derived Neuronal Exosomal microRNAs as Stress-Related Biomarkers in an Atopic Dermatitis Model.

Chronic allergic inflammatory skin disease-atopic dermatitis (AD)-is characterized by eczema, pruritus, xeroderma, and lichenification. Psychological stress is one cause of this disease; however, psychological stress will also result from the presence of AD symptoms. Previous studies have shown that psychological stress triggers neuroinflammation in the brain, where microRNAs (miRNAs) in the neuronal exosomes (nEVs) were analyzed to identify the composition of the miRNAs in the nEVs and how they were altered by AD. In this study, the AD model was induced by treatment with 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB). The expression patterns of neuroinflammation markers, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor, cyclooxygenase-2, and glial fibrillary acidic protein, were subsequently evaluated over time. Among these groups, there was a significant difference in DNCB 14 days expression compared with the control; therefore, nEVs were isolated from serum and next-generation sequencing was performed. The results demonstrate that 9 miRNAs were upregulated and 16 were downregulated in the DNCB 14 days compared with the control. Previous studies have shown that some of these miRNAs are associated with stress and stress-induced depression, which suggests that the miRNAs in nEVs may also be stress-related biomarkers.

Short-term serial assessment of electronic patient-reported outcome for depression and anxiety in breast Cancer.

PURPOSE: The incidence of depression and anxiety is higher in patients with breast cancer than in the general population. We evaluated the degree of depression and anxiety and investigated the changes in patients with breast cancer during the treatment period and short-term follow-up period. METHODS: Overall, 137 patients with breast cancer were evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item depression scale (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7). The scales were developed as a web-based electronic patient-reported outcome measure, and serial results were assessed before the operation, after the operation, in the post-treatment period, and in the 6-month follow-up period after surgery. RESULTS: The degree of depression and anxiety increased during treatment and decreased at 6-month follow-up, even if there were no statistical differences among the four periods (PHQ-9: p = 0.128; GAD-7: p = 0.786). However, daily fatigue (PHQ-9 Q4) and insomnia (PHQ-9 Q3) were the most serious problems encountered during treatment and at 6-month follow-up, respectively. In the GAD-7, worrying too much (Q3) consistently showed the highest scores during the treatment and follow-up periods. Of the patients, 7 (5.11%) and 11 (8.03%) patients had a worsened state of depression and anxiety, respectively, after treatment compared with before treatment. CONCLUSION: Most factors associated with depression and anxiety improved after treatment. However, factors such as insomnia and worrying too much still disturbed patients with breast cancer, even at 6-month follow-up. Therefore, serial assessment of depression and anxiety is necessary for such patients.

Serum-Derived Neuronal Exosomal miRNAs as Biomarkers of Acute Severe Stress.

Stress is the physical and psychological tension felt by an individual while adapting to difficult situations. Stress is known to alter the expression of stress hormones and cause neuroinflammation in the brain. In this study, miRNAs in serum-derived neuronal exosomes (nEVs) were analyzed to determine whether differentially expressed miRNAs could be used as biomarkers of acute stress. Specifically, acute severe stress was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats via electric foot-shock treatment. In this acute severe-stress model, time-dependent changes in the expression levels of stress hormones and neuroinflammation-related markers were analyzed. In addition, nEVs were isolated from the serum of control mice and stressed mice at various time points to determine when brain damage was most prominent; this was found to be 7 days after foot shock. Next-generation sequencing was performed to compare neuronal exosomal miRNA at day 7 with the neuronal exosomal miRNA of the control group. From this analysis, 13 upregulated and 11 downregulated miRNAs were detected. These results show that specific miRNAs are differentially expressed in nEVs from an acute severe-stress animal model. Thus, this study provides novel insights into potential stress-related biomarkers.

Personality Types as Predictors of Breast Cancer Screening Compliance in Korean Patients: A Mixed-Method Approach.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to identify personality types that can influence breast cancer screening (BCS) compliance among Korean women with breast cancer using a mixed-method approach. METHODS: The participants consisted of 93 women who underwent surgery for breast cancer between July 2010 and March 2012. The demographic and medical characteristics of the participants were evaluated through structured interviews. To identify personality types, in-depth interviews were performed and the transcribed interviews were evaluated using interpretive phenomenological analysis. The participants were categorized into two groups (compliance and non-compliance) based on compliance with the Korean Breast Cancer Society recommendations for BCS. RESULTS: Five personality types were identified through phenomenological analysis. There were significant differences in the chi-square test results for the BCS compliance and non-compliance groups according to age (p=0.048), cancer stage (p<0.001), and personality types (p=0.018). Logistic regression showed that the odds ratio for compliance with BCS was 9.35 (p=0.01) for individuals with a cautious-organized personality type, 9.38 (p=0.02) for those with a cautious-dependent personality, and 10.58 (p=0.04) for those with a sensitive-downcast personality compared to those with a cautious personality type. CONCLUSION: Participants with cautious-organized, cautious-dependent, and sensitive-downcast personality types were less likely to follow the BCS recommendations than those with a cautious personality type. This study provides a basis for the future development of an effective questionnaire to investigate the personality types of individuals with breast cancer in order to predict compliance with BCS.

Avoidant Insecure Attachment as a Predictive Factor for Psychological Distress in Patients with Early Breast Cancer: A Preliminary 1-Year Follow-Up Study.

OBJECTIVE: To identify attachment insecurity as an associative factor with unresolved psychological distress 1 year after surgery in the early breast cancer (BC) population. METHODS: One-hundred fourteen participants completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Experiences in Close Relationship (ECR-M36) questionnaire within 1 week (baseline) and at 1-year post-surgery (follow-up). Participants were categorized into the distress and the non-distress groups based on a HADS-total score cut-off of 15. Logistic regression analysis revealed predictive factors of distress at follow-up. RESULTS: At baseline, 53 (46.5%) participants were found to be in the distress group. The degree of distress decreased over 1 year (p= 0.003); however, 43 (37.7%) showed significant remaining distress at follow-up. Baseline scores of the ECR-M36 avoidance [odds ratio (OR)=1.045, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.002-1.090] and HADS-total (OR=1.138, 95% CI=1.043-1.241) were predictors of distress at follow-up. CONCLUSION: A substantial proportion of early BC patients suffer distress even one-year after surgery. Avoidant attachment appeared to be an influential factor on distress in early BC patients. Moreover, the finding that initial distress level could predict one at 1-year postoperation warrant a screening and management of distress along with BC treatment.

Mediating Effect of Resilience on the Association between Emotional Neglect and Depressive Symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have reported that childhood maltreatment experiences could induce biological and psychological vulnerability in depressive disorders. However, it is still unclear that type-specific effects of childhood maltreatment on psychological resilience, depressive symptoms and interactions among childhood maltreatment experiences, resilience, and depressive symptoms. METHODS: A total of 438 medical students were included in the study. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, the Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory were used for measuring childhood maltreatment experiences, psychological resilience, and depressive symptoms, respectively. We investigated the effects of childhood maltreatment experiences on resilience and depressive symptoms using correlation analysis. In addition, we analyzed the mediating effect of resilience on the association between childhood maltreatment and symptoms of depression. RESULTS: Among childhood maltreatment, emotional neglect was a significant predictor of the scores of low resilience and high depressive symptoms in both gender groups (all ps<0.05). Furthermore, resilience was found to be a mediator connecting emotional neglect experiences with depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that emotional neglect has detrimental effects on mood and resilience, and clinicians need to focus on the recovery of resilience when they deal with depressive symptoms in victims of childhood maltreatment.

Reliability and Validity of the Korean Version of the Modified Adult Attachment Scale for the Use of Medically Ill Patients.

OBJECTIVE: The Modified Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR-M36) scale was developed for medically ill, older individuals in 2008 (Toronto, Canada, department of psychosocial oncology and palliative care, Princess Margaret Hospital). The scale has displayed satisfactory reliability and validity. This study aimed to test the reliability and validity of the Korean version of Modified Experiences in Close Relationships (K-ECR-M36) questionnaire in female patients with breast cancer. METHODS: A total of 199 post-operative breast cancer patients completed the K-ECR-M36 as well as other psychological measures including the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (RAAS), World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The reliability and validity of the K-ECR-M36 were evaluated. Explorative factor analysis was conducted to identify the factor structure of the K-ECR-M36. RESULTS: The K-ECR-M36 showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.87) and reasonable test-retest reliability (r=0.752, p<0.001). The total as well as avoidance and anxiety subscales demonstrated construct validity with the RAAS, the HADS, and the WHOQOL-BREF. Factor analysis revealed four-factor structure which was originally proposed by Brennan, Clark, and Shaver (1998). CONCLUSION: These findings support that the K-ECR-M36 has satisfactory reliability, validity and factor structure among patients with breast cancer.

Reliability and Validity of the Korean Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form-3 in Medical Students.

OBJECTIVE: The Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ) is a self-report measure of early maladaptive schemas and is currently in its third revision; it is available in both long (YSQ-L3) and short (YSQ-S3) forms. The goal of this study was to develop a Korean version of the YSQ-S3 and establish its psychometric properties in a Korean sample. METHODS: A total of 542 graduate medical students completed the Korean version of the YSQ-S3 and several other psychological scales. A subsample of 308 subjects completed the Korean YSQ-S3 both before and after a 2-year test-retest interval. Correlation, regression, and confirmatory factor analyses were performed on the data. RESULTS: The internal consistency of the 90-item Korean YSQ-S3 was 0.97 and that of each schema was acceptable, with Cronbach's alphas ranging from 0.59 to 0.90. The test-retest reliability ranged from 0.46 to 0.65. Every schema showed robust positive correlations with most psychological measures. The confirmatory factor analysis for the 18-factor structure originally proposed by Young, Klosko, and Weishaar (2003) showed that most goodness-of-fit statistics were indicative of a satisfactory fit. CONCLUSION: These findings support the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the YSQ-S3.

Acamprosate-induced Extrapyramidal Symptoms in an Elderly Patient with Alcohol Dependence.

Acamprosate reduces the craving for alcohol by decreasing glutamate activity and increasing gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) action in patients with alcohol dependence. Acamprosate has tolerable side effects that include diarrhea, headache, dizziness and pruritus. In this study, we report acamprosate-induced extrapyramidal symptoms in an elderly patient with no history of neurologic disease. Severe extrapyramidal symptoms developed two days after the administration of acamprosate and improved over one week after the acamprosate was stopped. Extrapyramidal symptoms are commonly associated with dopamine receptor antagonists. However, there have been several reports of extrapyramidal symptoms occurring with drugs targeting other systems, including GABA, glutamate and serotonin. Acamprosate may decrease dopamine levels in the ventral tegmental area mediated by glutamatergic action and thus cause extrapyramidal symptoms. We suggest that acamprosate carries the risk of causing extrapyramidal symptoms.

Impact of illiteracy on depression symptomatology in community-dwelling older adults.

BACKGROUND: In many countries, illiteracy rates among aged people are quite high. However, only few studies have specifically investigated the impact of illiteracy on depression. METHODS: Data for 1,890 elderly individuals (aged ≥65 years) were obtained from a nationwide dementia epidemiological study conducted in South Korea. Based on their reading ability, the participants were divided into three groups: totally illiterate, partially illiterate, and literate. The Korean version of the Geriatric Depression Scale - Short Form (SGDS-K) was used to detect depression (cut-off score = 8). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between illiteracy and depression. To explore clinical features of depression in illiterate people, we performed logistic regression to calculate odds ratios of positive responses (or negative responses to reverse-coded items) for each SGDS-K item using literate individuals as the reference group. RESULTS: Totally illiterate participants had 2.41 times the odds and partially illiterate individuals had 1.59 times the odds of being depressed compared with literate participants after controlling for other variables. Compared with literate individuals, illiterate elderly persons were at increased odds for responding negatively to the majority of SGDS-K items, including "having memory problems," "others are better off than me," and "feeling worthless" even after controlling for various demographic and clinical factors. CONCLUSIONS: Illiteracy in elderly individuals was associated with a higher rate and increased severity of depression. Illiteracy negatively affected depression symptomatology, especially factors associated with self-esteem. Therefore, clinicians should carefully monitor for the presence of depression in illiterate elderly adults.

A Pilot Study for Discovering Candidate Genes of Chromosome 18q21 in Methamphetamine Abusers: Case-control Association Study.

OBJECTIVE: It was previously suggested that the malic enzyme 2 (ME2) as the candidate gene for psychosis in fine mapping of chromosome 18q21. Chromosome 18q21 is also one of the possible regions that can contribute to addiction. METHODS: We performed a pilot study for discovering candidate gene of chromosome 18q21 in the methamphetamine abusers for elucidating the candidate gene for methamphetamine addiction leading to psychosis. We have selected 30 unrelated controls (16 males, 14 females; age=59.8±10.4) and 37 male methamphetamine abusers (age=43.3±7.8). We analyzed 20 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 7 neuronal genes in chromosome 18q21 for DNA samples that was checked for the data quality and genotype error. The association between the case-control status and each individual SNP was measured using multiple logistic regression models (adjusting for age and sex as covariates). And we controlled false discovery rate (FDR) to deal with multiple testing problem. RESULTS: We found 3 significant SNPs of 2 genes in chromosome 18q21 (p-value<0.05; adjusting for age as covariate) in methamphetamine abusers compared to controls. We also found 2 significant SNPs of 1 gene (p-value<0.05; adjusting for age and sex as covariates) (rs3794899, rs3794901:MAPK4). Two SNPs in MAPK4 gene were significant in both statistical groups. CONCLUSION: MAPK4, the gene for mitogen-activated protein kinase 4, is one of the final 6 candidate genes including ME2 in 18q12-21 in our previous finemapping for psychosis. Our results suggest that MAPK4 can be a candidate gene that contribute to the methamphetamine addiction leading to psychosis.

The korean version of the body image scale-reliability and validity in a sample of breast cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: The Body Image Scale (BIS) developed in collaboration with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Study Group is a brief questionnaire for measuring body image concerns in patients with cancer. This study sought to assess the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Body Image Scale (K-BIS). METHODS: The participants consisted of 155 postoperative breast cancer patients (56 breast conserving surgery, 56 mastectomy, and 43 oncoplastic surgery). Subjects were evaluated using the K-BIS, the Body-Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF). Test-retest reliability and internal consistency were examined as a measure of reliability and validity was evaluated by convergent validity, discriminant validity and factor analysis. RESULTS: Cronbach's α value was 0.943. The total score of the K-BIS was negatively correlated with the BESAA (r=0.301, p<0.001) and the body image facet in the WHOQOL-BREF (r=0.315, p<0.001). The total score of K-BIS positively correlated with the HADS (HAD-A: r=0.501, p<0.001, HAD-D: r=0.466, p<0.001). As for determining discriminant validity, scores were compared between the BCS subgroup, mastectomy subgroup, and oncoplastic surgery subgroup. Difference between the mastectomy subgroup and oncoplastic surgery subgroup was statistically significant (p=0.017). Factor analysis resulted in a single factor solution in three out of four anlyses, accounting for >59% variance. CONCLUSION: The K-BIS showed good reliability and validity for assessment of body image in Korean breast cancer patients.

A Comparative Study on Alexithymia in Depressive, Somatoform, Anxiety, and Psychotic Disorders among Koreans.

OBJECTIVE: Little is known about the characteristic differences in alexithymic construct in various psychiatric disorders because of a paucity of direct comparisons between psychiatric disorders. Therefore, this study explored disorder-related differences in alexithymic characteristics among Korean patients diagnosed with four major psychiatric disorders (n=388). METHODS: Alexithymic tendencies, as measured by the Korean version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20K), of patients classified into four groups according to major psychiatric diagnosis were compared. The groups consisted of patients with depressive disorders (DP; n=125), somatoform disorders (SM; n=78), anxiety disorders (AX; n=117), and psychotic disorders (PS; n=68). RESULTS: We found that substantial portions of patients in all groups were classified as having alexithymia and no statistical intergroup differences emerged (42.4%, 35.9%, 35.3%, and 33.3% for DP, SM, PS, and AX). However, patients with DP obtained higher scores in factor 2 (difficulties describing feelings) than those with SM or AX, after adjusting for demographic variables. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that alexithymia might be associated with a higher vulnerability to depressive disorders and factor 2 of TAS-20K could be a discriminating feature of depressive disorders.

Feasibility of a slower lamotrigine titration schedule for bipolar depression: a naturalistic study.

The development of a skin rash is often associated with a rapid escalation of lamotrigine dose. We used lamotrigine to treat 259 patients with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, bipolar depression using either the standard titration schedule (n=132) or a slower titration schedule (n=127) and compared the clinical efficacy and safety of both groups. Clinical efficacy of lamotrigine treatment was assessed using changes in the Clinical Global Impression Scale for Bipolar Disorder-Modified scores during the course of the 12-week treatment. A significant reduction of the Clinical Global Impression Scale for Bipolar Disorder-Modified score was observed in both groups and the effect size was large for both groups (standard, 0.75; slower, 0.71). A mixed-effect model of repeated measurement revealed an increased rate of improvement in the standard titration group that was significant during the first 5 weeks (P<0.001) but became nonsignificant by the final 7 weeks of treatment. The statistically significant reduction in the development of rashes (P=0.005) was a major advantage for patients in the slower titration group. Although the standard titration schedule generally led to faster recovery from depressive symptoms, the slower titration schedule may be an option for patients with a high risk of rash development.

Alexithymia and Stress Response Patterns among Patients with Depressive Disorders in Korea.

OBJECTIVE: Alexithymic characteristics may represent cognitive and affective mediators between stressors and stress responses among those with depressive disorders. This study evaluated how alexithymic characteristics, as measured by the Korean version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20K), could be related to stress response patterns, as measured by the Stress Response Inventory (SRI), within a sample composed of individuals diagnosed with depressive disorders. METHODS: Participants comprised a cross section of patients diagnosed with depressive disorders (n=98). Data on demographic and psychosocial factors (i.e., sex, age, and level of education), clinical profiles {i.e., primary and comorbid psychiatric conditions meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) criteria at the time of the evaluation}, duration of illness, medications, and Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scores, and the results of psychological assessments (TAS-20K, SRI) were analyzed. RESULTS: Patients having depressive disorders with alexithymia obtained significantly higher scores in terms of all seven subscales of the SRI, as compared to those without alexithymia, a logistic regression model was used to assess possible predictors for the presence of alexithymia in patients with depressive disorders, including the seven subscales of the SRI, gender, age, and duration of illness. We found that aggressive and somatizing responses to stress were significantly associated with the presence of alexithymia among patients with depression. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that patients having depression with alexithymia were more susceptible to stress than those without alexithymia. Clinicians might improve their treatment of depression by identifying the clinical predictors for alexithymia and by helping those individuals demonstrating such symptoms in coping with emotionally stressful situations.

Reliability and validity of the 20-item toronto alexithymia scale in korean adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Adolescence is a period of developing emotional regulation. However, alexithymia has rarely been examined during this period. The objective of this study is to examine the factor structure and internal consistency of the Korean version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20K) in normal adolescents in South Korea. METHODS: The TAS-20K was administered to a sample of 290 adolescents aged from 12 to 16 years old. Internal reliability, test-retest reliability, and factorial validity were evaluated. RESULTS: The three factors of the TAS-20K were confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The internal consistency, measured using Cronbach's alpha coefficient was acceptable for difficulty in identifying feelings, good for difficulty in describing feelings, and acceptable for externally oriented thinking. CONCLUSION: Our study indicates that the TAS-20K is an appropriate instrument to assess alexithymia in Korean adolescents.

The Relationship between Alexithymia and General Symptoms of Patients with Depressive Disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Depression has been associated with alexithymic features. However, few studies have investigated the differences in the general symptoms of patients with depressive disorders according to the presence of alexithymia. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between alexithymia and symptoms experienced by patients with clinically diagnosed depressive disorders. METHODS: A chart review of patients who were evaluated using the Korean version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R) at the same time between the years 2003 and 2007 was conducted. A total of 104 patients with depressive disorders were included and divided into two groups: alexithymia (n=52) and non-alexithymia (n=52). A direct comparison between the two groups was carried out. Regression analysis was also carried out for the TAS-20 total and subset scores in order to model the relationship between alexithymia and symptoms. RESULTS: The presence of alexithymia was confirmed in 50% of the patients with depressive disorders, and the symptoms of depressive patients with alexithymia were more severe than those of their non-alexithymic counterparts on all 9 symptom domains of the SCL-90-R. Furthermore, regression analysis revealed that the presence of alexithymia was positively associated with depression, phobic anxiety, and psychoticism but inversely associated with anxiety. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the clinical features of depression are partially dependent on the presence of alexithymia. Alexithymic patients with depressive disorders are likely to show more severe depressive, psychotic, and phobic symptoms. In other words, clinicians should suspect the presence of alexithymic tendencies if these symptoms coexist in patients with depressive disorders and address their difficulties in effective communication.

Downregulation of voltage-gated potassium channel alpha gene expression in dorsal root ganglia following chronic constriction injury of the rat sciatic nerve.

The hyperexcitability and ectopic spontaneous discharge (ESD) of primary sensory neurons may be important for the generation or maintenance of neuropathic pain. To investigate the relationship between the electrical abnormalities of injured neurons and voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channel gene expression, the expression of the Kv channel alpha genes in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) was monitored by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in a chronic constriction injury (CCI) model of neuropathic pain. Electrophoresis of the RT-PCR products showed the presence of several Kv alpha transcript types with various levels of basal expression in lumbar 4, 5, and 6 DRGs. The Kv 1.2, 1.4, 2.2, 4.2, and 4.3 mRNA levels in the ipsilateral DRG were 63-73% of the contralateral sides of the same animal at 3 days and 34-63% at 7 days following CCI. In addition, Kv 1.1 mRNA levels declined to about 72% of the contralateral level at 7 days. No significant changes in Kv 1.5, 1.6, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, and 4.1 mRNA levels were detectable in the ipsilateral DRG at both days. These results suggest that the downregulation of Kv channel alpha gene expression in the DRG following CCI may result in the reduction of K(+) current and contribute to neuronal excitability and ESD generation.