Sleep electroencephalographic coherence abnormalities in individuals at high risk for depression: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Sleep electroencephalographic (EEG) studies of individuals with major depressive disorder have identified several microarchitectural features associated with the illness. These abnormalities are also found in clinically remitted individuals, raising the question of whether they are vulnerability markers of depression. This study evaluated the sleep EEG in high-risk individuals to see if abnormalities are present in the sleep EEG prior to the onset of illness. METHODS: A total of 26 subjects (13 males and 13 females) were recruited for study on the basis of 1) having a parent or grandparent treated for major depressive or bipolar affective disorder and 2) having no history of personal psychiatric illness. Polysomnographic data were collected and compared with gender- and age-matched healthy control subjects with no personal or family history of psychiatric illness. The primary outcome measures were interhemispheric and intrahemispheric coherence. RESULTS: Period analysis of the sleep EEG showed that beta-delta coherence was lower bilaterally in male high-risk subjects. Right-hemispheric theta-delta coherence was also lower in male high-risk subjects, with female high-risk subjects evidencing lower beta coherence. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep-EEG abnormalities associated with major depressive disorder are present in never mentally ill individuals at high risk for the illness. These markers may be useful in the prediction of illness and in family genetic studies of mood disorders.

The psychiatric sequelae of civilian trauma.

Much of the literature on the psychiatric consequences of stress has focused on wartime combat trauma. However, traumatic events also frequently occur in civilian life. Controlled studies on the psychiatric effects of noncombat trauma were reviewed and a meta-analysis of these data was conducted. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, phobia, and major depressive disorder (MDD) were significantly elevated compared with a pooled control group, whereas panic disorder and dysthymic disorder were not significantly increased. These data suggest that the psychiatric effects of civilian trauma include both anxiety and depressive disorders. The results are strikingly similar to those reported in combat veterans, suggesting that severe trauma, even in very different populations, may be associated with similar psychopathology.

Low plasma homovanillic acid levels in recently abstinent alcoholic men.

OBJECTIVE: To explore dopaminergic mechanisms in alcohol dependence, the authors measured plasma homovanillic acid (HVA) in recently detoxified alcohol-dependent men. METHOD: Plasma HVA was measured in 83 male patients with a diagnosis of alcohol dependence who had maintained documented abstinence for at least 3 weeks and in 69 healthy male comparison subjects. RESULTS: The alcoholic patients as a group had significantly lower levels of plasma HVA than the comparison subjects. This difference was not influenced by any other measured covariate, including a family history of alcohol dependence. CONCLUSIONS: These results imply that factors such as alcohol dependence should be taken into account in future studies of plasma HVA.