Comparisons of Quality, Correctness, and Similarity Between ChatGPT-Generated and Human-Written Abstracts for Basic Research: Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: ChatGPT may act as a research assistant to help organize the direction of thinking and summarize research findings. However, few studies have examined the quality, similarity (abstracts being similar to the original one), and accuracy of the abstracts generated by ChatGPT when researchers provide full-text basic research papers. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the applicability of an artificial intelligence (AI) model in generating abstracts for basic preclinical research. METHODS: We selected 30 basic research papers from Nature, Genome Biology, and Biological Psychiatry. Excluding abstracts, we inputted the full text into ChatPDF, an application of a language model based on ChatGPT, and we prompted it to generate abstracts with the same style as used in the original papers. A total of 8 experts were invited to evaluate the quality of these abstracts (based on a Likert scale of 0-10) and identify which abstracts were generated by ChatPDF, using a blind approach. These abstracts were also evaluated for their similarity to the original abstracts and the accuracy of the AI content. RESULTS: The quality of ChatGPT-generated abstracts was lower than that of the actual abstracts (10-point Likert scale: mean 4.72, SD 2.09 vs mean 8.09, SD 1.03; P<.001). The difference in quality was significant in the unstructured format (mean difference -4.33; 95% CI -4.79 to -3.86; P<.001) but minimal in the 4-subheading structured format (mean difference -2.33; 95% CI -2.79 to -1.86). Among the 30 ChatGPT-generated abstracts, 3 showed wrong conclusions, and 10 were identified as AI content. The mean percentage of similarity between the original and the generated abstracts was not high (2.10%-4.40%). The blinded reviewers achieved a 93% (224/240) accuracy rate in guessing which abstracts were written using ChatGPT. CONCLUSIONS: Using ChatGPT to generate a scientific abstract may not lead to issues of similarity when using real full texts written by humans. However, the quality of the ChatGPT-generated abstracts was suboptimal, and their accuracy was not 100%.

Trial Sequential Analysis and Updated Meta-Analysis of Fluvoxamine on Clinical Deterioration in Adult Patients with Symptomatic COVID-19 Infection.

Preliminary meta-analyses suggested that fluvoxamine was effective in treating COVID-19 infection. However, the reliability of this evidence has not yet been examined. MEDLINE, CENTRAL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched to identify any randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from the inception of the databases to 5 February 2023. We used trial sequential analysis (TSA) to examine the reliability of the current existing evidence on the benefits of fluvoxamine on COVID-19 infection. The primary outcome was clinical deterioration, as defined in the original study (reported as odds ratio (OR), with 95% confidence intervals), and the secondary outcome was hospitalization. In the TSA, we used the relative risk reduction thresholds of 10, 20, and 30%. The updated meta-analysis of the five RCTs showed that fluvoxamine was not associated with lower odds of clinical deterioration when compared with a placebo (OR: 0.81; 0.59-1.11). The effect of fluvoxamine lay within the futility boundary (i.e., lack of effect) when using a 30% relative risk reduction threshold. The effect estimates lay between the superiority and futility boundary using the 10% and 20% threshold, and the required size of information was not reached for these two thresholds. The effect of fluvoxamine on the odds of hospitalization was not statistically significant (0.76; 0.56-1.03). In conclusion, there is no reliable evidence that fluvoxamine, when compared to a placebo, reduces the relative risk of clinical deterioration among adult patients with COVID-19 infection by 30%, and a relative risk reduction of 20% or 10% is still uncertain. The role of fluvoxamine as a COVID-19 treatment cannot be justified.

Ramelteon for delirium prevention in hospitalized patients: An updated meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Although ramelteon has been examined as a relatively new therapeutic option for delirium prevention, current evidence to evaluate its efficacy is limited. We conducted an updated meta-analysis and examine the reliability of existing evidence regarding the effect of ramelteon on delirium prevention in hospitalized patients. Seven major electronic databases were systematically searched to identify randomized controlled trials examining the efficacy of ramelteon in delirium prevention. Data were pooled using a frequentist-restricted maximum-likelihood random-effects model. A trial sequential analysis was performed using relative risk reduction thresholds of 50%. The primary outcome was the incidence of delirium (reported as odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals). The secondary outcomes were the days of delirium, all-cause mortality, and all-cause discontinuation. Of 187 potentially eligible studies identified, 8 placebo-controlled randomized controlled trials (n = 587) were included. This updated meta-analysis showed that ramelteon was associated with lower odds of delirium occurrence than placebo (0.50; 0.29-0.86; I2 = 17.48%). In trial sequential analysis, the effect of ramelteon across the superiority boundary when using a relative risk reduction threshold ranging from 40% to 60%. In subgroup analyses, ramelteon compared with placebo was associated with lower odds of delirium occurrence in the elderly group (k = 5; 0.28; 0.09-0.85; I2 = 27.93%) and multiple dosage group (k = 5; 0.34; 0.14-0.82; I2 = 44.24%) but not in the non-elderly and non-multiple dosage groups. When considering surgical patients and medical patients separately, ramelteon showed a trend in the treatment of delirium prevention in both groups, while these findings were not statistically significant. No significant between-group differences were found in the secondary outcomes. The current meta-analysis provides updated and reliable evidence that ramelteon, in comparison with placebo, reduces the risk of delirium among hospitalized patients.

Pharmacological and nonpharmacological augmentation treatments for clozapine-resistant schizophrenia: A systematic review and network meta-analysis with normalized entropy assessment.

OBJECTIVE: To integrate all evidence derived from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of both pharmacological and nonpharmacological augmentation interventions for clozapine-resistant schizophrenia (CRS). METHODS: Six major electronic databases were systematically searched for RCTs published until July 10, 2021. The primary outcome was change in overall symptoms, and the secondary outcomes were positive and negative symptoms and acceptability. We performed random-effects network meta-analysis. Normalized entropy was calculated to examine the uncertainty of treatment ranking. RESULTS: We identified 35 RCTs (1472 patients with 23 active augmentation treatments) with a mean daily clozapine dose of 440.80 (91.27) mg for 1168.22 (710.28) days. Network meta-analysis of overall symptoms (reported as standardized mean difference; 95 % confidence interval) with consistent results indicated that mirtazapine (-4.41; -5.61, -3.21), electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) (-4.32; -5.43, -3.21), and memantine (-2.02; -3.14, -0.91) were ranked as the best three treatments. For positive symptoms, ECT (-5.18; -5.86, -4.49) was ranked the best with less uncertainty. For negative symptoms, memantine (-3.38; -4.50, -2.26), duloxetine (-3.27; -4.25, -2.29), and mirtazapine (-1.73; -2.71, -0.74) were ranked the best three treatments with less uncertainty. All antipsychotics, N-methyl d-aspartate receptor agonists, and antiepileptics were not associated with more efficacy than placebo. Compared to placebo, only amisulpride had statistically significant lower discontinuation rate (risk ratio: 0.21; 95 % CI: 0.05, 0.93). CONCLUSION: Add-on mirtazapine, ECT, and memantine were the most efficacious augmentation options for CRS. Data on other important outcomes such as cognitive functioning or quality of life were rarely reported, making further large-scale, well-designed RCTs necessary. (PROSPERO number, CRD42021262197.).

Risk of injuries requiring hospitalization in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the preventive effects of medication.

AIMS: Patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are prone to injury and frequently require treatment with hospital admission. This study aimed to evaluate the risk of injuries requiring hospitalization among children and adolescents with and without ADHD and assess the effects of medication on the risk reduction in patients with ADHD. METHODS: This is a retrospective population-based cohort study by using data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. We compared 4658 6-18 year-old ADHD patients with 18 632 sex-, age-, and index day-matched non-ADHD controls between 2005 and 2012. Both groups were followed until the end of 2013 to compare the risk of injuries requiring hospitalization. Cox regression analysis was performed to determine the hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) after adjusting for confounders. RESULTS: Children and adolescents with ADHD had a significantly higher risk of injuries requiring hospitalization than the non-ADHD controls (HR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.12-1.72), and a higher risk was especially observed in the male and adolescent subgroups. In ADHD patients, long-term users of ADHD medication were associated with a lower risk of injuries requiring hospitalization than nonusers (HR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.30-0.85). CONCLUSION: Healthcare providers should be aware of the potential risk of injury in patients with ADHD and highlight the importance of the duration and compliance with medication treatment.

Impacts of intervals between sequential development of depression and dementia in older adults: A nationwide population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Depression has been reported as a risk factor for dementia, as well as the continuation of dementia development. This study aimed to stratify older people with dementia (PwD) into three groups (no depression, early depression and recent depression) to compare their inpatient health care utilization and to explore related clinical impacts. METHODS: Overall, 11,612 PwD were identified from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database and were further divided into 9,257 PwD without depression, 1,179 PwD with recent depression (< 2 years from dementia diagnosis), and 1,176 PwD with early depression (> 2 years from dementia diagnosis). Three matched cohort pairs (Cohort 1: no depression versus recent depression, Cohort 2: no depression versus early depression, and Cohort 3: recent depression versus early depression) were constructed to compare inpatient health care utilization three years after dementia onset. RESULTS: The incidence of hospitalization related to mental illness among PwD with a recent or early depression onset were significantly higher than their matched cohort without depression. The recent depression group had a greater rate ratio (RR) with a longer length of stay due to depression (RR: 8.29, 95% CI: 2.74-25.12) compared to the no depression group, and the early depression group had 4.24 times (95% CI: 1.56-11.59) and 6.40 times (95% CI: 2.18-18.82) longer length of stay than the no depression group due to depression, and mood disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Depression significantly increased inpatient health care utilization of depression and mood disorder among older PwD with early depression.

Trajectory of Antidepressant Effects after Single- or Two-Dose Administration of Psilocybin: A Systematic Review and Multivariate Meta-Analysis.

We examined the cardiovascular safety, acceptability, and trajectory of the antidepressant effects of psilocybin after single- or two-dose administration. Four major electronic databases were systematically searched. Data were pooled using a multivariate random-effects meta-analysis. Primary outcomes were changes in depressive symptoms. Secondary outcomes were cardiovascular safety and acceptability. Ten studies were included. The estimated effect sizes (standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals) for psilocybin were -0.75 (-1.15 to -0.35) on day 1, -1.74 (-2.15 to -1.32) at 1 week, -1.35 (-1.77 to -0.93) at 1 month, -0.91 (-1.31 to -0.51) at 3 months, and -1.12 (-1.56 to -0.68) at 6 months. Higher doses and two sessions of psilocybin treatment were significantly associated with superior antidepressant effects. The all-cause discontinuation and heart rate after psilocybin administration were comparable to placebo; meanwhile, psilocybin increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 19.00 mmHg and 8.66 mmHg, respectively. There were no significant differences between SMD derived from placebo-controlled trials compared to those from pre-post changes and SMD in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) compared to those in non-RCTs. The present study demonstrates that single- or two-dose psilocybin administration has rapid and sustained antidepressant effects for up to 6 months, with favorable cardiovascular safety and acceptability.

Psilocybin for End-of-Life Anxiety Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically examine the effectiveness and tolerability of psilocybin for treating end-of-life anxiety symptoms. METHODS: The Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, and PsycINFO databases were searched up to November 25, 2020. We enrolled clinical trials investigating psilocybin for treating end-of-life anxiety symptoms. Meta-analysis was conducted using random-effects model. RESULTS: Overall, five studies were included, revealing that psilocybin was superior to the placebo in treating state anxiety at 1 day (Hedges' g, -0.70; 95% confidence interval, -1.01 to -0.39) and 2 weeks (-1.03; -1.47 to -0.60) after treatment. Psilocybin was more effective than placebo in treating trait anxiety at 1 day (-0.71; -1.15 to -0.26), 2 weeks (-1.08; -1.80 to -0.36), and 6 months (-0.84; -1.37 to -0.30) after treatment. Psilocybin was associated with transient elevation in systolic (19.00; 13.58-24.41 mm Hg) and diastolic (8.66; 5.18-12.15 mm Hg) blood pressure compared with placebo. The differences between psilocybin and placebo groups with regard to allcause discontinuation, serious adverse events, and heart rates were nonsignificant. CONCLUSION: Psilocybin-assisted therapy could ameliorate end-of-life anxiety symptoms without serious adverse events. Because of the small sample sizes of the included studies and high heterogeneity on long-term outcomes, future randomized controlled trials with large sample sizes are needed.

Body Mass Index and Association of Psychological Stress with Exercise Performance in Military Members: The Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Hospitalization Events in Armed Forces (CHIEF) Study.

AIMS: To investigate the influence of body mass index (BMI) on the association between psychological stress and physical fitness. BACKGROUND: Both obesity and psychological stress reduce exercise performance. OBJECTIVE: It is unknown whether obesity may modify the relationship. METHODS: A population of 4,080 military subjects in Taiwan was divided to three groups according to the BMI ≥27.0 kg/m2 (obesity), 24.0-26.9 kg/m2 (overweight) and 18.5-23.9 kg/m2 (normal weight). Normal, slight, and great psychological stress was evaluated by the Brief Symptoms Rating Scale (BSRS-5) score ≤5, 6-9, and ≥10, respectively. Aerobic and anaerobic fitness were respectively evaluated by time for a 3000-meter run and numbers of 2-minute sit-ups and 2-minute push-ups. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with adjustments for age and sex was used to determine the relationship. RESULTS: The mean time (sec) for a 3000-meter run (standard error) under slight and great stress differed from that under normal stress in the normal weight (881.0 (11.0) and 877.9 (5.8) vs. 862.2 (1.7), p=0.089 and 0.0088, respectively) and in the obesity (928.1 (16.8) and 921.8 (10.7) vs. 895.2 (1.6), p=0.054 and 0.016, respectively), while the differences were not significant in the overweight (877.1 (12.7) and 877.5 (7.1) vs. 867.1 (2.1), both p >0.5). The impacts of the BMI on 2-minute sit-ups had a similar pattern with that on a 3000-meter run whereas the impact of the BMI on 2-minute push-ups was insignificant. CONCLUSIONS: Mental stress may not affect physical fitness in overweight military personnel. The mechanism is not clear and should be further investigated.

Effect of Foot Reflexology Intervention on Depression, Anxiety, and Sleep Quality in Adults: A Meta-Analysis and Metaregression of Randomized Controlled Trials.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review, meta-analysis, and metaregression to determine the current best available evidence of the efficacy and safety of foot reflexology for adult depression, anxiety, and sleep quality. METHODS: Electronic databases (PubMed, ClinicalKey, ScienceDirect, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Library) were searched till August, 10, 2020, and the validity of the eligible studies was critically appraised. Randomized controlled trials comparing foot reflexology groups with control groups for adult depression, anxiety, and sleep quality were included. Twenty-six eligible studies were included to assess the effect of foot reflexology intervention on the reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety and improving quality of sleep, respectively, as the primary outcome. RESULTS: Twenty-six randomized controlled trials involving 2,366 participants met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analyses showed that foot reflexology intervention significantly improved adult depression (Hedges' g = -0.921; 95% CI: -1.246 to -0.595; P < 0.001), anxiety (Hedges' g = -1.237; 95% CI -1.682 to -0.791; P < 0.001), and sleep quality (Hedges' g = -1.665; 95% CI -2.361 to -0.970; P < 0.001). Metaregression reveals that an increase in total foot reflexology time (P = 0.002) and duration (P = 0.01) can significantly improve sleep quality. CONCLUSIONS: Foot reflexology may provide additional nonpharmacotherapy intervention for adults suffering from depression, anxiety, or sleep disturbance. However, high quality and rigorous design RCTs in specific population, along with an increase in participants, and a long-term follow-up are recommended in the future.

The effect of yoga on sleep quality and insomnia in women with sleep problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: To examine the effectiveness and safety of yoga of women with sleep problems by performing a systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: Medline/PubMed, ClinicalKey, ScienceDirect, Embase, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Library were searched throughout the month of June, 2019. Randomized controlled trials comparing yoga groups with control groups in women with sleep problems were included. Two reviewers independently evaluated risk of bias by using the risk of bias tool suggested by the Cochrane Collaboration for programming and conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The main outcome measure was sleep quality or the severity of insomnia, which was measured using subjective instruments, such as the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), or objective instruments such as polysomnography, actigraphy, and safety of the intervention. For each outcome, a standardized mean difference (SMD) and confidence intervals (CIs) of 95% were determined. RESULTS: Nineteen studies in this systematic review included 1832 participants. The meta-analysis of the combined data conducted according to Comprehensive Meta-Analysis showed a significant improvement in sleep (SMD = - 0.327, 95% CI = - 0.506 to - 0.148, P < 0.001). Meta-analyses revealed positive effects of yoga using PSQI scores in 16 randomized control trials (RCTs), compared with the control group in improving sleep quality among women using PSQI (SMD = - 0.54; 95% CI = - 0.89 to - 0.19; P = 0.003). However, three RCTs revealed no effects of yoga compared to the control group in reducing insomnia among women using ISI (SMD = - 0.13; 95% CI = - 0.74 to 0.48; P = 0.69). Seven RCTs revealed no evidence for effects of yoga compared with the control group in improving sleep quality for women with breast cancer using PSQI (SMD = - 0.15; 95% CI = - 0.31 to 0.01; P = 0.5). Four RCTs revealed no evidence for the effects of yoga compared with the control group in improving the sleep quality for peri/postmenopausal women using PSQI (SMD = - 0.31; 95% CI = - 0.95 to 0.33; P = 0.34). Yoga was not associated with any serious adverse events. DISCUSSION: This systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrated that yoga intervention in women can be beneficial when compared to non-active control conditions in term of managing sleep problems. The moderator analyses suggest that participants in the non-breast cancer subgroup and participants in the non-peri/postmenopausal subgroup were associated with greater benefits, with a direct correlation of total class time with quality of sleep among other related benefits.

Machine Learning Based Suicide Ideation Prediction for Military Personnel.

Military personnel have greater psychological stress and are at higher suicide attempt risk compared with the general population. High mental stress may cause suicide ideations which are crucially driving suicide attempts. However, traditional statistical methods could only find a moderate degree of correlation between psychological stress and suicide ideation in non-psychiatric individuals. This article utilizes machine learning techniques including logistic regression, decision tree, random forest, gradient boosting regression tree, support vector machine and multilayer perceptron to predict the presence of suicide ideation by six important psychological stress domains of the military males and females. The accuracies of all the six machine learning methods are over 98%. Among them, the multilayer perceptron and support vector machine provide the best predictions of suicide ideation approximately to 100%. As compared with the BSRS-5 score ≥7, a conventional criterion, for the presence of suicide ideation ≥1, the proposed algorithms can improve the performances of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, precision, the AUC of ROC curve and the AUC of PR curve up to 5.7%, 35.9%, 4.6%, 65.2%, 4.3% and 53.2%, respectively; and for the presence of more severely intense suicide ideation ≥2, the improvements are 6.1%, 26.2%, 5.8%, 83.5%, 2.8% and 64.7%, respectively.

Association of Psychological Stress with Physical Fitness in a Military Cohort: The CHIEF Study.

INTRODUCTION: Psychological stress is associated with sedentary behavior, which may impair exercise performance. The aim of our study was to examine the association between psychological stress and physical fitness in military personnel. METHOD: A military cohort of 4080 subjects in Taiwan was used for the analysis. The Brief Symptoms Rating Scale (BSRS-5) includes items of anxiety, depression, hostility, interpersonal sensitivity, and insomnia measured by a five-point Likert-type scale of 0-4. Psychological stress was defined as normal (n = 3657), slight (n = 314), and great (n = 109) by BSRS-5 score ≤5, 6-9, and ≥10, respectively. Aerobic fitness and anaerobic fitness were evaluated by the time of 3000-meter running and the numbers of 2-min sit-ups and 2-min push-ups, respectively. Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were used to determine the relationship. RESULTS: As compared with normal stress, slight and great stress were positive dose-dependently correlated with 3000-meter running time (ß = 9.09 and 14.44; P = 0.0032 and 0.048, respectively) after adjusting for age, sex, service specialty, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, cigarette smoking, alcohol intake, hemoglobin levels, and exercise frequency. Similarly, those with slight stress were more likely to be the worst 10% performers in the 3000-meter run test relative to the normal individuals (odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals: 1.50, 1.00-2.24). By contrast, there was no relationship of psychological stress with the numbers of 2-min sit-ups and 2-min push-ups. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the presence of higher psychological stress on military personnel may reduce their cardiorespiratory fitness but not affect the anaerobic fitness.

No Association Between Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infections And Dementia: A Nationwide Cohort Study In Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: The associations between the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and dementias are as yet to be studied in Taiwan. The aim of this study is to clarify as to whether HIV infections are associated with the risk of dementia. METHODS: A total of 1,261 HIV-infected patients and 3,783 controls (1:3) matched for age and sex were selected between January 1 and December 31, 2000 from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). Fine and Gray's survival analysis (competing with mortality) analyzed the risk of dementias during the 15-year follow up. The association between the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and dementia was analyzed by stratifying the HAART status among the HIV subjects. RESULTS: During the follow-up period, 25 in the HIV group (N= 1,261) and 227 in the control group (N= 3,783) developed dementia (656.25 vs 913.15 per 100,000 person-years). Fine and Gray's survival analysis revealed that the HIV patients were not associated with an increased risk of dementia, with the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) as 0.852 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.189-2.886, p=0.415) after adjusting for sex, age, comorbidities, geographical region, and the urbanization level of residence. There was no significant difference between the two groups of HIV-infected patients with or without HAART in the risk of dementia. CONCLUSION: This study found that HIV infections, either with or without HAART, were not associated with increased diagnoses of neurodegenerative dementias in patients older than 50 in Taiwan.

Development of Alzheimer disease in old major depressive patients based upon their health status: A retrospective study in Taiwan.

This study is conducted to investigate the association between major depressive disorder and the subsequent development of Alzheimer disease (AD) in elderly patients with different health statuses using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD).A retrospective cohort study was performed on subjects over 65 years old from 2002 to 2006 using a random sampling from the 1 million beneficiaries enrolled in the NHI. Patients who were diagnosed with major depressive disorder were selected as the case group. Subjects in the control group were selected from elderly patients who did not have depression during the study period by matching age, sex, and index date of depression with subjects in the case group using a ratio of 1:4 (case:control). Both groups of patients were checked annually over a period of 7 years to observe whether they subsequently developed AD.A total of 1776 subjects were included in the case group while 7104 subjects were in the control group. After the follow-up period, 59 patients (3.3%) with depression developed AD while 96 patients (1.4%) without depression developed AD. The Kaplan-Meier curves showed that the incidence rate of AD in both groups varied significantly depending on different health statuses (log-rank P < .001). Results of the generalized estimating equation model found that patients with depression (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.898; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.451-2.438), very severe health status (HR = 1.630; 95% CI = 1.220-2.177), or artery diseases (HR = 1.692; 95% CI = 1.108-2.584) were at a higher risk of developing AD than other groups.The association between major depressive disorder and the later development of AD varied depending on the health statuses of elderly patients. Clinicians should exercise caution when diagnosing and treating underlying diseases in elderly depressed patients, and then attempt to improve their health status to reduce the incidence rate of subsequent AD development.

Clinical Efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Suan Zao Ren Tang, for Sleep Disturbance during Methadone Maintenance: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Methadone maintenance therapy is an effective treatment for opiate dependence, but more than three-quarters of persons receiving the treatment report sleep quality disturbances. In this double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, we recruited 90 individuals receiving methadone for at least one month who reported sleep disturbances and had Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores > 5. The purpose of this study was to determine whether Suan Zao Ren Tang, one of the most commonly prescribed traditional Chinese medications for treatment of insomnia, improves subjective sleep among methadone-maintained persons with disturbed sleep quality. Ninety patients were randomly assigned to intervention group (n = 45) and placebo group (n = 45), and all participants were analyzed. Compared with placebo treatment, Suan Zao Ren Tang treatment for four weeks produced a statistically significant improvement in the mean total PSQI scores (P = 0.007) and average sleep efficiency (P = 0.017). All adverse events (e.g., lethargy, diarrhea, and dizziness) were mild in severity. Suan Zao Ren Tang is effective for improving sleep quality and sleep efficiency among methadone-maintained patients with sleep complaints.

Inflammatory response in heroin addicts undergoing methadone maintenance treatment.

Opioid addiction influences many physiological functions including reactions of the immune system. The objective of this study was to investigate the immune system function in heroin addicted patients undergoing methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) compared to healthy controls. We tested the cytokine production of IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α from a group of heroin addicts (n=34) and healthy controls (n=20). The results show that production of IL-1ß, IL-6 and IL-8 was significantly higher in the group of methadone-maintained patients than in the healthy control group. Plasma TNF-α and IL-6 levels were significantly correlated with the dairy methadone dosage administered, and the IL-1ß level was significantly correlated with the duration of methadone maintenance treatment. These findings suggest that methadone maintenance treatment influences the immune system functions of opioid-dependent patients and may also induce long-term systemic inflammation.

The benefit of combined acupuncture and antidepressant medication for depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Acupuncture, one of the most popular complementary therapies, is best known for its ability to provide pain relief. Accumulating evidence suggests that acupuncture may also be beneficial in depression, although its effectiveness remains uncertain in this condition. We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized trials in which the effects of acupuncture combined with antidepressant medications were compared with those of antidepressant medications alone in adults with a diagnosed depressive disorder. Thirteen randomized controlled trials involving 1046 subjects were included in the meta-analysis. Our results confirmed that the pooled standardized mean difference of the 'endpoint scores of the 17-item Hamilton rating scale for depression' was -3.74 (95% CI, -4.77 to -2.70, p<0.001) in week 1 and -2.52 (95% CI, -4.12 to -0.92; p<0.01) in week 6, indicating a significant difference in favor of acupuncture combined with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Moreover, therapeutic response rates were statistically significantly different between the two groups (risk ratio [RR], 1.23; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.39; p<0.001; I(2)=68%) in favor of the combined treatment group. This systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that acupuncture combined with antidepressant medication is effective, has an early onset of action, safe and well-tolerated over the first 6-week treatment period. Moreover, this treatment combination appears to result in greater therapeutic efficacy than SSRI therapy alone. More high-quality randomized clinical trials are needed to evaluate the clinical benefit and long-term effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of depression.

Effects of Escitalopram on a Rat Model of Persistent Stress-Altered Hedonic Activities: Towards a New Understanding of Stress and Depression.

Chronic mild stress (CMS) paradigm is a model to simulate clinical depression induced by long-term environmental stress. The present study investigated the effects of escitalopram, a specific serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), on depression-like activities in adult (18 week-old) Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats that underwent a total 8-week CMS. Body weight, locomotor activity and sucrose consumption of the rats were measured under CMS paradigm and following escitalopram treatment. The plasma level of corticosterone was also measured at the end of the experiment. Our results revealed that the CMS program reduced the body weight, but not the locomotor activity of the rats. Adult SD rats consumed less sucrose solution under CMS. However, chronic escitalopram regime (10 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks) appeared not helpful in reversing this CMS effect and, if any, the drug exaggerated anxiety profile of the animals. Unexpectedly, the stressed rats exhibited higher sucrose consumption than non-stressed rats after receiving repeated saline injections. Further, the stressed rats were found to have a higher plasma level of corticosterone after escitalopram treatment. Our results provide an example of the possibility that previously stressed individuals may develop an anti-depression ability that lessens the benefits of intervention with antidepressants. Finally, a separate group of rats that entered the CMS program at 10 week-old were used to examine possible effects of aging to interpret the stress coping ability observed in the 18 week-old rats. The younger rats developed less anti-anhedonia effects under repeated saline injections. The data of the present study provide a different perspective on stress-induced depression and possible interaction with antidepressants.

Clinical efficacy of acupuncture as an adjunct to methadone treatment services for heroin addicts: a randomized controlled trial.

Scant scientific evidence supports the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of opiate dependence. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of acupuncture for heroin addicts on methadone maintenance by measuring the daily consumption of methadone, variations in the 36-item Short Form Health Survey-36 (SF-36) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores, and heroin craving. Sixty heroin addicts were randomly assigned to true acupuncture (electroacupuncture at the Hegu [LI4] and Zusanli [ST36] acupoints, as well as acupuncture at the Ear Shenmen) or sham acupuncture (minimal acupuncture at the Hegu and Zusanli acupoints without electrical stimulation and superficial acupuncture at the Ear Shenmen), twice weekly for 4 weeks. From week 2 onwards, the daily dose of methadone was reduced by a significantly greater amount with true acupuncture compared with sham acupuncture. True acupuncture was also associated with a greater improvement in sleep latency at follow-up. All adverse events were mild in severity. Acupuncture appears to be a useful adjunct to methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) in heroin addiction.