Negative association between basal oxytocin and oxytocin changes after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with treatment-resistant depression.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a neuromodulator effective for treating depressive symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). One of the multiple mechanisms for its antidepressant effects proposed is related to the hypothalamus. Oxytocin is a neuropeptide synthesized in the hypothalamus that affects human behavior and psychology, including social and affiliative behaviors, stress regulation, and fear and emotion processing. There have been no reports on the relationship between rTMS and oxytocin for the treatment of TRD. Therefore, we aimed to investigate changes in salivary oxytocin concentrations in patients with TRD before and after 6 weeks of rTMS treatment. A total of 28 patients with TRD who received rTMS at Saga University Hospital between August 2013 and August 2020 were included. Although rTMS treatment significantly improved 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores, rTMS treatment did not change mean salivary oxytocin after 6 weeks of treatment in patients with TRD. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the change in salivary oxytocin levels after rTMS treatment was negatively associated with basal oxytocin levels before rTMS treatment, suggesting that rTMS treatment tends to decrease oxytocin levels in patients with depression with high basal oxytocin levels while increasing them in those with low basal levels. These findings suggest that rTMS treatment improved depressive symptoms through mechanisms other than the modulatory effect on oxytocin levels in patients with TRD, while there is room for further studies to confirm these findings using a larger patient sample size and/or a sham rTMS procedure.

Serum soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 was not altered by rTMS in patients with treatment-resistant depression.

AIM: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is one of the most effective and minimally invasive treatments for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). However, the mechanism underlying the therapeutic effects of rTMS in patients with TRD remains unclear. In recent years, the pathogenesis of depression has been closely associated with chronic inflammation and microglia are believed to play an important role in chronic inflammation. Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM2) plays an important role in microglial neuroinflammatory regulation. In this study, we investigated the changes in peripheral soluble TREM2 (sTREM2) before and after rTMS treatment in patients with TRD. METHODS: Twenty-six patients with TRD were enrolled in this frequency (10 Hz) rTMS study. Depressive symptoms, cognitive function, and serum sTREM2 concentrations were measured at baseline and the end of the 6-week rTMS treatment. RESULTS: This study showed that rTMS ameliorated depressive symptoms and partially improved cognitive dysfunction in TRD. However, rTMS treatment did not alter serum sTREM2 levels. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first sTREM2 study in patients with TRD who underwent rTMS treatment. These results suggest that serum sTREM2 may not be relevant for the mechanism underlying the therapeutic effect of rTMS in patients with TRD. Future studies should confirm the present findings using a larger patient sample and a sham rTMS procedure, as well as CSF sTREM2. Furthermore, a longitudinal study should be conducted to clarify the effects of rTMS on sTREM2 levels.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Carbon Monoxide-Induced Delayed Neuropsychiatric Sequelae: Case Report of Two Cases and Relevant Literature Review.

We herein report two cases with carbon monoxide- (CO-) induced delayed neuropsychiatric sequelae (DNS) successfully treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in attempt suicide by charcoal burning. The two patients with CO-induced DNS were successfully treated with a total of more than 100 sessions of HBOT. Frontal assessment battery (FAB) was useful to examine the effectiveness of HBOT objectively. In the future study, a large-randomized trial is required to establish the efficacy of HBOT for the treatment of DNS.

The importance of monitoring renal function and concomitant medication to avoid toxicity in patients taking lithium.

Lithium, which is used for bipolar disorder, can cause toxicity. There are two categories of lithium toxicity, namely, overdose-related and not overdose-related. However, the treatment and prognosis of each type of toxicity are not clearly understood. We, therefore, compared the clinical characteristics of patients with overdose-related and not overdose-related lithium toxicity. Relevant data were obtained from the medical records of 16 patients with lithium toxicity, and renal function and concomitant medications were retrospectively compared between the two groups. We also compared the treatment for, manifestations of, and duration of hospitalization between the two types of lithium toxicity. The not overdose-related group more frequently had a low creatinine clearance (<50 mL/min) than did the overdose-related group (P = 0.01). Multivariable regression analysis demonstrated that creatinine clearance <50 mL/min was a significant predictor of lithium toxicity in the not overdose-related group (P = 0.01). Tremor and dysarthria occurred only in the not overdose-related group, and duration of hospitalization was significantly longer in the not overdose-related than overdose-related group (P = 0.01). Clinicians must monitor the renal function of patients taking lithium, even when in compliance with the prescribed dosage, because they are at long-term risk of lithium toxicity.

Development of a delirium predictive model for adult trauma patients in an emergency and critical care center: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Delirium has been shown to prolong the length of intensive care unit stay, hospitalization, and duration of ventilatory control, in addition to increasing the use of sedatives and increasing the medical costs. Although there have been a number of reports referring to risk factors for the development of delirium, no model has been developed to predict delirium in trauma patients at the time of admission. This study aimed to create a scoring system that predicts delirium in trauma patients. METHODS: In this single-center, retrospective, observational study, trauma patients aged 18 years and older requiring hospitalization more than 48 hours were included and divided into the development and validation cohorts. Univariate analysis was performed in the development cohort to identify factors significantly associated with prediction of delirium. The final scoring system for predicting delirium was developed using multivariate analysis and internal validation was performed. RESULTS: Of the 308 patients in the development cohort, 91 developed delirium. Clinical Frailty Score, fibrin/fibrinogen degradation products, low body mass index, lactate level, and Glasgow Coma Scale score were independently associated with the development of delirium. We developed a scoring system using these factors and calculated the delirium predictive score, which had an area under the curve of 0.85. In the validation cohort, 46 of 206 patients developed delirium. The area under the curve for the validation cohort was 0.86, and the calibration plot analysis revealed the scoring system was well calibrated in the validation cohort. DISCUSSION: This scoring system for predicting delirium in trauma patients consists of only five risk factors. Delirium prediction at the time of admission may be useful in clinical practice. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic and epidemiological, level III.

Changes in interleukin-1 beta induced by rTMS are significantly correlated with partial improvement of cognitive dysfunction in treatment-resistant depression: a pilot study.

The impairment experienced by many individuals with depression is closely related to the cognitive symptoms of the disorder. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation method that provides a promising technique for improving cognitive symptoms in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). It has recently been demonstrated that TRD is associated with increased inflammatory process. In the present study, we investigated whether a relationship exists between changes in cognitive function and those in inflammatory cytokines before and after rTMS treatment. Eleven patients with TRD were enrolled in a high-frequency (10 Hz) rTMS study. Cognitive function, depressive symptoms and serum concentration of inflammatory cytokines (interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α) were measured at baseline and at the endpoint of rTMS treatment. rTMS treatment significantly improved depressive symptom scores and some subscales of cognitive dysfunction. The present study has demonstrated that partial changes in cognitive function and changes in IL-1ß were significantly correlated. The partial improvement of cognitive dysfunction by rTMS in the present study might be attributable to the reduction of peripheral IL-1ß levels. The present results should be replicated for verification in future studies.

Improvement Of Frontal Lobe Dysfunction And White Matter Integrity By rTMS In Treatment-Resistant Depression.

AIM: The impairment experienced by many individuals with depression is closely related to the cognitive symptoms of the disorder. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation method providing a promising technique for improving cognitive symptoms in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). In the present study, we investigated whether a relationship exists between improvements in frontal lobe dysfunction induced by rTMS and improvement of white matter integrity revealed by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in TRD patients receiving rTMS treatment. METHODS: A total of 12 patients with TRD were enrolled in a high-frequency (10 Hz) rTMS study (August 2013-January 2019). Frontal lobe function and depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and at the endpoint of rTMS treatment. Fractional anisotropy (FA), as a measure of white matter integrity obtained from DTI, was investigated using a region-of-interest (ROI) approach. RESULTS: rTMS treatment significantly improved depressive symptom scores and some subscales of frontal lobe dysfunction. Category scores in the Word Fluency Test and scores on part 3 of the Color Stroop Test were improved independently of the improvement of depressive symptoms. In the ROI analysis, none of the FA increases in any region were correlated with improvement of any frontal lobe function (n = 12). CONCLUSION: Although rTMS resulted in partial improvement of frontal lobe dysfunction as well as white matter integrity, we found no correlation between improved frontal lobe dysfunction and improved white matter integrity in TRD patients.

Cushing's Syndrome and Psychosis: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Psychiatric complications of Cushing's syndrome include irritability, anxiety, depressed mood, and cognitive impairment. Psychosis is a rare manifestation of Cushing's syndrome; therefore, the literature on the subject is limited and consists mainly of clinical case reports. We report a case of Cushing's syndrome misdiagnosed as schizophrenia-like psychosis for more than 10 years. Transsphenoidal adenomectomy resulted in amelioration of psychiatric symptoms as well as improvement of cognitive ability. Clinicians should consider the presence of psychiatric symptoms predating the diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome, especially when these symptoms are persistent and treatment-resistant, as seen in the present case.