Effect of Sertraline, Dosulepin, and Venlafaxine on Non-BDNF Neurotrophins in Patients With Depression: A Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: The neurotrophic hypothesis of depression has been mostly studied with a focus on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) leading to lack of data on non-BDNF neurotrophins (NTs). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of antidepressant drugs on changes in serum nerve growth factor (NGF), neurotrophin 3 (NT-3), and neurotrophin 4 (NT-4). METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted on 105 patients with depression who were subgrouped to the group 1 (mild and moderate depression without somatic syndrome treated with sertraline), group 2 (mild and moderate depression with somatic syndrome treated with dosulepin), and group 3 (severe depression without psychotic symptoms treated with venlafaxine). At baseline, the severity of depression (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale [MADRS]), serum NGF, NT-3, and NT-4 were estimated. Thirty-five healthy volunteers were recruited as controls for a baseline comparison of NTs. All patients were followed up after 6 weeks to evaluate the changes in NT levels and correlate it with the change in MADRS scores. RESULTS: At baseline, NT levels were significantly lower in patients with depression in comparison with healthy control. In group 1, serum NGF, NT-3, and NT-4 level were found to increase significantly after treatment, whereas changes in groups 2 and 3 were statistically not significant. Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale score and serum NGF at baseline had an inverse relation (r = -0.648), whereas the change in MADRS score in sertraline group had a positive correlation (r = 0.86) with the change of serum NGF. CONCLUSIONS: Monotherapy with sertraline increased the level of non-BDNF NTs; however, treatment with dosulepin and venlafaxine did not produce any significant changes in patients with depression.

Microbial remediation of plastic pollutants generated from discarded and abandoned marine fishing nets.

A wide range of plastic debris dumped into the ocean has recently gained concern of the marine ecosystems. Discarded and abandoned fishing nets, also known as ghost nets, are lost in the marine water and has no commercial significance. Additionally these fishing gear left out in the aquatic environment pose a severe risk to marine environment. Fishing nets, made up of synthetic plastic materials, are a major source of marine pollutants and act as a vector for transporting other toxic chemical pollutants. Approximately 10% of total marine plastic pollutants come from commercial fishing nets, and each year up to 1 million tons of fishing gear are discarded into the marine ecosystem. It can be estimated that by 2050 the amount will be doubled, adding 15-20 million metric tons of discarded lost fishing gears into ocean. The gradual and increased deposition of plastic pollutants in aquatic habitat also affects the whole food chain. Recently, microbial degradation of marine plastics has focussed the eyes of researchers and a lot of investigations on potential microbial degraders are under process. Microorganisms have developed the ability to grow under plastic stress condition and adapt to alter metabolic pathways by which they can directly feed upon marine plastic pollutants as sole carbon source. The present review compiles information on marine plastic pollution from discarded and abandoned fishing nets, their effect on aquatic ecosystems, marine animals and food chain and discusses microbial remediation strategies to control this pollution, especially and their implications in the marine ecosystems.