Gut Microbiota Changes and Their Relationship with Inflammation in Patients with Acute and Chronic Insomnia.

PURPOSE: The major purpose of this study was to detect the changes in gut microbiota composition and inflammatory cytokines production associated with acute and chronic insomnia. This study also evaluated the relationship between gut microbiota changes and increased inflammatory cytokines in insomnia patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Outpatients with acute and chronic insomnia (aged 26-55 years; n=20 and 38, respectively) and age/gender-matched healthy controls (n=38) were recruited from a southern China region. Participants' gut microbiome, plasma cytokines, and self-reported sleep quality and psychopathological symptoms were measured. RESULTS: The gut microbiomes of insomnia patients compared with healthy controls were characterized by lower microbial richness and diversity, depletion of anaerobes, and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria, and an expansion of potential pathobionts. Lachnospira and Bacteroides were signature bacteria for distinguishing acute insomnia patients from healthy controls, while Faecalibacterium and Blautia were signature bacteria for distinguishing chronic insomnia patients from healthy controls. Acute/chronic insomnia-related signature bacteria also showed correlations with these patients' self-reported sleep quality and plasma IL-1ß. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that insomnia symptomology, gut microbiota, and inflammation may be interrelated in complex ways. Gut microbiota may serve as an important indicator for auxiliary diagnosis of insomnia and provide possible new therapeutic targets in the field of sleep disorders.

Depressive symptoms between parent and adolescent survivors: A longitudinal actor-partner interdependence model.

BACKGROUND: The association between parent-child depression following disasters has been well documented. However, longitudinal studies of posttraumatic depression using parent-child dyadic are scarce. This study aimed to investigate inter-related effects between parent and child depression, as well as predictors of depressive symptoms, in a large sample of Wenchuan earthquake survivors. METHODS: Data are from the Wenchuan Earthquake Adolescent Health Cohort (WEAHC) Study that included 685 parent-child dyads exposed to the earthquake. Depression was assessed with the Self-Rating Depression Scale (for parents) and Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children, at 12 (T12m) and 18 months (T18m) post-earthquake. Longitudinal actor-partner interdependence models (APIMs) were employed to examine depression within dyads. Predictors of depressive symptoms were assessed by the cart algorithm throughout the 6-month follow-up. RESULTS: Adjusting for earthquake exposure and previous depressive symptoms, parents' depression at 12 months predicted children's depressive symptoms at 18 months, and vice versa (ß = 0.14 for parents and ß = 0.12 for children). Psychomotor retardation in parents, and dysphoria/social isolation and positive affect in children were identified as crucial screening indicators identifying parents and children at increased risk for depression. CONCLUSION: A bidirectional association was found between parent and child depression following a mass disaster. Both parent and child depression status should be examined when implementing interventions to identify and treat depression in earthquake survivors.

Predictors of the initiation of shift work disorder among Chinese intern nurses: a prospective study.

AIM: Individual vulnerability to shift work disorder (SWD) varies. The aim of the present study was to verify the individual characteristics that predicted SWD onset by following Chinese intern nurses who at baseline had not worked rotating or night shifts. METHODS: A total of 706 Chinese first-year intern female nurses aged 16-24 years were recruited. At baseline (T0), they reported demographic characteristics, insomnia symptoms and excessive sleepiness, trait neuroticism, sleep reactivity, morningness, and circadian flexibility and languidity. At the three-month (T1) and six-month (T2) follow-up, the SWD status was determined based on significant sleep disturbance and/or excessive sleepiness in the context of working a rotating shift schedule. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence rates of SWD were 35.2% at T1 and 37.7% at T2. Two bivariate logistics regressions revealed that morningness (odds ratio [OR] = 1.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09-1.58, T1; OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.12-1.65, T2), languidity (OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.28-1.90, T1), and sleep reactivity (OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.07-1.57, T1; OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.07-1.61, T2) predicted the onset of SWD, while flexibility (OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.62-0.90, T1) decreased the odds of SWD onset. By comparing nurses with SWD and nurses without SWD across all six months, morningness (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.20-2.07), sleep reactivity (OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.16-2.04), languidity (OR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.30-2.22), and flexibility (OR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.54-0.90) showed significant effects on persistent SWD.