P300 parameters in major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Event-related potential measures have been extensively studied in mental disorders. Among them, P300 amplitude and latency reflect impaired cognitive abilities in major depressive disorder (MDD). The present systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to investigate whether patients with MDD differ from healthy controls (HCs) with respect to P300 amplitude and latency. METHODS: PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched from inception to 15 January 2023 for case-control studies comparing P300 amplitude and latency in patients with MDD and HCs. The primary outcome was the standard mean difference. A total of 13 articles on P300 amplitude and latency were included in the meta-analysis. RESULTS: Random effect models indicated that MDD patients had decreased P300 amplitude, but similar latency compared to healthy controls. According to regression analysis, the effect size increased with the severity of depression and decreased with the proportion of women in the MDD samples. Funnel plot asymmetry was not significant for publication bias. CONCLUSIONS: Decreased P300 amplitude may be a candidate diagnostic biomarker for MDD. However, prospective studies testing P300 amplitude as a monitoring biomarker for MDD are needed.

Use of EEG for Predicting Treatment Response to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Aim. In this study we assessed the predictive power of quantitative EEG (qEEG) for the treatment response to right frontal transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) using a machine learning approach. Method. The study included 50 OCD patients (35 responsive to TMS, 15 nonresponsive) who were treated with right frontal low frequency stimulation and identified retrospectively from Uskudar Unversity, NPIstanbul Brain Hospital outpatient clinic. All patients were diagnosed with OCD according to the DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 criteria. We first extracted pretreatment band powers for patients. To explore the prediction accuracy of pretreatment EEG, we employed machine learning methods using an artificial neural network model. Results. Among 4 EEG bands, theta power successfully discriminated responsive from nonresponsive patients. Responsive patients had more theta powers for all electrodes as compared to nonresponsive patients. Discussion. qEEG could be helpful before deciding about treatment strategy in OCD. The limitations of our study are moderate sample size and limited number of nonresponsive patients and that treatment response was defined by clinicians and not by using a formal symptom measurement scale. Future studies with larger samples and prospective design would show the role of qEEG in predicting TMS response better.

Quantitation of escitalopram and its metabolites by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in psychiatric patients: New metabolic ratio establishment.

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is used to determine the concentration of drug in plasma/serum to adjust the dose of the therapeutic drug. Selective and sensitive analytical methods are used to determine drug and metabolite levels for the successful application of TDM. The aim of the study was to develop and validate using LC-MS/MS to analyse quantitative assay of escitalopram (S-CT) and metabolites in human plasma samples. In order to provide a convenient and safe treatment dose, it was aimed to determine the levels of S-CT and its metabolites in the patients' plasma. A new method with short sample preparation and analysis time was developed and validated using LC-MS/MS to analyse quantitative assay of S-CT and its metabolites in plasma. Also, plasma samples of 30 patients using 20 mg S-CT between the ages of 18 and 65 years were analysed by the validated method. The mean values of S-CT, demethyl escitalopram and didemethyl escitalopram in plasma of patients were 27.59, 85.52 and 44.30 ng/mL, respectively. At the end of the analysis, the metabolic ratio of S-CT and metabolites was calculated. It is considered that the method for the quantitative analysis of S-CT and its metabolites in human plasma samples may contribute to the literature on account of its sensitive and easy application. Additionally, the use of our data by physicians will contribute to the effective drug treatment for their patients who take S-CT.