Effects of symptom reduction and psychotropic medication on cognitive impairment in depression.

BACKGROUND: Depression is related to cognitive performance. This follow-up study examines the influence of depression symptoms and psychopharmacological treatment on change in the cognitive performance of patients with depressive episodes over a 2-year period. SAMPLING AND METHODS: Sixty-two in- and outpatients with depression of varying severity (ICD-10: F31-F33) were examined in an open prospective naturalistic observational study with 3 points of measurement and tested by use of 3 computerized cognitive performance tests [Visual Attentiveness Test (VAT), Continuous Attention Test (CAT), Word Recognition Test (WRT)], while the psychotropic medication was classified by subclass and dosage. Statistical analysis was performed by random-effects regression models. RESULTS: The raw values of VAT speed, CAT speed and WRT quality improved over time. However, the positive time trend disappeared after the patients' clinical and personal characteristics were controlled for. The processing speed of the VAT was found to be negatively influenced by depressive symptoms. That of the CAT developed favorably with increasing level of education. The performance qualities of the VAT, WRT and CAT were positively related to the participants' educational level. The patients who received antipsychotic treatment performed worse on WRT quality than those who were not treated with antipsychotics. CONCLUSIONS: The cognitive performance was relatively stable during the treatment process and not affected by clinical characteristics or type of medication. Cognitive deficits in patients with depression could be a trait rather than a state marker.

Transcription of proto-oncogenes in Rous sarcoma virus infected and transformed chicken embryo cells.

To evaluate an effect of infection by RSV on the transcriptional activity of proto-oncogenes, we tested 19 cellular oncogenes and the beta-actin gene performing "nuclear run on transcription assays" using nuclei isolated from RSV infected or transformed chick embryo cells (CEC). A drastic increase in the transcriptional activity of the c-fgr proto-oncogene and a slight increase of c-fos and c-myc could be observed in uninfected compared to RSV infected CEC. To distinguish between infection- and transformation-dependent alterations we used the transformation-defective temperature-sensitive RSV mutant strain NY 68. Ts NY 68 infected CEC maintained at the permissive temperature of 36 degrees C and exhibiting a transformed phenotype, displayed no significant differences in the transcriptional activity of the 19 proto-oncogenes when compared to ts NY 68 infected CEC maintained at the nonpermissive temperature of 42 degrees C and exhibiting a normal phenotype. We conclude that the alterations observed were caused by the viral infection and are not due to the process of transformation. No significant changes in the transcription rate of the investigated genes could be observed after shifting ts NY 68 infected CEC from 42 degrees C to 36 degrees C. In contrast, a shift of ts NY 68 infected CEC from 36 degrees C to 42 degrees C results, after 2 hours, in a transient increase of the c-fos transcription.

[Do cognitive deficits in depressive disorders remit?]. / Remittieren kognitive Defizite bei depressiven Störungen?

OBJECTIVE: The importance of cognitive deficits concerning schizophrenics is well-known. Much less material of that kind has been collected from patients with affective disorders, which was the aim of this clinical study. METHODS: Inclusion criterions were in- and outpatients with affective disorders (ICD-10: F31-F33) aged < 61. The clinical status was determined by use of the HAMD-21, the subjects were examined by means of standardised computerised cognitive performance tests (CGT-[M], DAUF). The results were correlated with the HAMD and the psychiatric pharmacotherapy. RESULTS: In each of the three subtests the heavily depressive group (HAMD > 24, n = 14) came off significantly (Mann-Whitney-U-Test, p < 0.05) worse than the remitted group (HAMD < or = 8, n = 18) while 8 of the 18 remitted patients showed pathological results in the CGT-(M). Only patients who took tranquilizers performed significantly worse than patients without such medication (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In some cases of affective disorders, a "cognitive residual syndrome" persists which is rather part of the disease than pharmacotherapy-associated.