Heterogeneity of sleep quality in relation to circadian preferences and depressive symptomatology among major depressive patients.

BACKGROUND: The current study aimed at investigating the latent dimensional structure of sleep quality as indexed by the seven components of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), as well as latent covariance structure between sleep quality, circadian preferences and depressive symptoms. METHODS: Two hundred twenty-five patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), with an average age of 29.92 ±â€¯10.49 years (aged between 17 and 63), participated in the study. The PSQI, Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were administered to participants. Four sets of latent class analyses were subsequently run to obtain optimal number of latent classes best fit to the data. RESULTS: Mixture models revealed that sleep quality is multifaceted in MDD. The data best fit to four-latent-class model: Poor Habitual Sleep Quality (PHSQ), Poor Subjective Sleep Quality (PSSQ), Intermediate Sleep Quality (ISQ), and Good Sleep Quality (GSQ). MDD patients classified into GSQ latent class (23.6%) reported the lowest depressive symptoms and were more prone to morningness diurnal preferences compared to other three homogenous sub-groups. Finally, the significant association between eveningness diurnal preferences and depressive symptomatology was significantly mediated by poor sleep quality. LIMITATION: The cross-sectional nature of the study and the lack of an objective measurement of sleep such as polysomnography recordings was the most striking limitation of the study. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded sleep quality in relation to circadian preferences and depressive symptoms has a heterogeneous nature in MDD.

Neurotrophins and neuroinflammation in fetuses exposed to maternal depression and anxiety disorders during pregnancy: a comparative study on cord blood.

In recent years, there have been changes in the approach to maternal psychiatric disorders and their effects on the fetus, with the focus redirected to the search for biological markers. Neurotrophic factors and inflammatory processes have received particular attention in the past few years. According to the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), the study sample (n = 136) consisted of three groups: mothers with major depressive disorder (MDD group, n = 25), mothers with anxiety disorder (AD group, n = 18), and mothers without any psychiatric disorders (not diagnosed (ND) group, n = 93). During the delivery/cesarean section, a blood sample was obtained from the umbilical cord. Serum concentrations of BDNF, NT-3, FGF2, TNF-α, and neopterin were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), according to the manufacturer's procedure. Clinical and biochemical characteristics were assessed. We did not find a significant difference among the three study groups with regard to BDNF, NT-3, and TNF-α levels. The ANOVA test indicated statistically significant differences in FGF2 levels and neopterin between the study groups. The newborns of mothers with AD had significantly higher FGF2 levels and significantly higher neopterin levels when compared with those of mothers with MDD and healthy mothers. The present study sheds light on the effects of higher FGF2 and neopterin levels in fetuses exposed to AD. Our results should be replicated through further prospective studies with a larger sample size.

The effects of individual biological rhythm differences on sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, and dissociative experiences.

Individuals who differ markedly by sleep chronotype, i.e., morning-type or evening-type also differ on a number of psychological, behavioral, and biological variables. Among several other psychological functions, dissociation may also lead to disruption and alteration of consciousness, which may facilitate dream-like experiences. Our study was aimed at an inquiry into the effects of individual biological rhythm differences on sleep quality and daytime sleepiness in conjunction with dissociative experiences. Participants were 372 undergraduate college students, completed a package of psychological instruments, including the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, Dissociative Experiences Scale, Insomnia Severity Index, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Using logistic regression models, direct relations of pathological dissociation with sleepiness, sleep quality and circadian preferences were investigated. Poor sleep quality and sleepiness significantly contributed to the variance of dissociative symptomatology. Although there was no substantial linear association between circadian preferences and pathological dissociation, having evening-type preferences of sleep was indirectly associated with higher dissociation mediated by poor sleep quality. Poor sleep quality and daytime sleepiness seems to be significant antecedents of pathological dissociation. Sleep chronotype preferences underlie this relational pattern that chronobiological characteristics seem to influence indirectly on dissociative tendency via sleep quality.

Impact of enriched environment on production of tau, amyloid precursor protein and, amyloid-ß peptide in high-fat and high-sucrose-fed rats.

OBJECTIVE: The Western-type diet is associated with an elevated risk of Alzheimer's disease and other milder forms of cognitive impairment. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of the environmental enrichment on amyloid and tau pathology in high-fat and high-sucrose-fed rats. METHODS: In total, 40 adult male rats were categorised into two main groups according to their housing conditions: enriched environment (EE, n=16) and standard housing condition (n=24). The groups were further divided into five subgroups that received standard diet, high-fat diet, and high-sucrose diet. We performed the analysis of amyloid ß-peptide (Aß) (1-40), Aß(1-42), amyloid precursor protein (APP), and tau levels in the hippocampus of rats that were maintained under standard housing conditions or exposed to an EE. RESULTS: The EE decreased the Aß(1-40), Aß(1-42), APP, and tau levels in high-fat and high-sucrose-fed rats. CONCLUSION: This observation shows that EE may rescue diet-induced amyloid and tau pathology.

Body Image, Self-Esteem and Depressive Symptomatology in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

INTRODUCTION: In the current study we aimed to determine body image, self-esteem and depressive symptomatology in women with Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and compare with healthy controls. METHOD: This study was conducted among the patients with untreated PCOS who admitted to the Outpatient Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Faculty of Medicine of Selçuk University. A total 83 consecutive women with PCOS met the criteria of present study were included in the study. Age matched healthy controls (n=64) were recruited from employees at Selçuk University Hospital. PCOS was defined according to Rotterdam criteria. After socio-demographic characteristics of the participants were recorded, Body Image Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Beck Depression Inventory were completed by the participants. RESULTS: Patients with PCOS and healthy controls did not differ in some sociodemographic variables, including age, education and economic status (p>.05). Previous psychiatric history was more prevalent among the PCOS group (p<. 05). Body mass index (BMI) was ≤25 kg/m2 in both groups. BMI values in the PCOS group were significantly higher than in the controls (p<.05). BDI scores were significantly higher in the PCOS group compared to that in the healthy controls (p<.05). There was no significant difference between the PCOS group and healthy controls in BIS and RSES scores (p>.05). CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that PCOS seems to be associated with depressive symptomatology. Furthermore, rising BMI values of these women may be an indicator for the onset of PCOS. However, these results should be confirmed by prospective studies.