An exploration of the association between family functioning and nonsuicidal self-injury among Chinese adolescents with mood disorders

Background and objectives This study explored the correlation between nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and family functioning among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years with mood disorders. Methods A total of 142 participants were clinically assessed for NSSI, with 85 in the NSSI group and 57 in the non-NSSI group. The correlation between NSSI and family functioning was compared and a regression prediction model was constructed to determine the risk probability of NSSI. Results A significant association was found between family functioning and NSSI (P = 0.017). The correlation between adolescents with NSSI and gender, communication, affective responsiveness, and behaviour control was statistically significant. A nomogram graph and ROC curve were constructed, with an AUC of 0.772. Conclusion The findings support the notion that family functioning is associated with a higher risk for NSSI among adolescents with mood disorders. Furthermore, gender, communication, affective responsiveness, and behaviour control may be contributing factors. (AU)

Gut microbiota and its relation to inflammation in patients with bipolar depression: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: To explore the gut microbiota characteristics in depressed patients with bipolar disorder (BD) as well as the connection between the gut microbiota and inflammatory markers. METHODS: Totally 72 depressed BD patients and 16 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in the study. Blood and feces samples were taken from each subject. With the help of 16S-ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, the characteristics of the gut microbiota in each participant were examined. Correlation analysis was then utilized to assess the relationship between the gut microbiota and clinical parameters. RESULTS: We found the taxonomic composition of the gut microbiota, but not its diversity, was significantly different in BD patients compared to HCs. We found the abundance of Bacilli, Lactobacillales and genus Veillonella were higher in BD patients than in HCs, while genus Dorea was more abundant in HCs. Additionally, correlation analysis showed that the bacterial genera' abundance in BD patients was strongly correlated with the severity of depression and inflammatory markers. CONCLUSIONS: According to these results, the gut microbiota characteristics were changed in depressed BD patients, which may have been associated with the severity of depression and the inflammatory pathways.

Simultaneous electrochemical determination of dopamine and ascorbic acid using AuNPs@polyaniline core-shell nanocomposites modified electrode.

A simple and effective strategy was proposed for synthesis of AuNPs@polyaniline (AuNPs@PANI) core-shell nanocomposites. AuNPs@PANI nanocomposites were prepared by one-step chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline using chloroaurate acid as the oxidant and AuNPs as the seeds. The synthesized AuNPs@PANI nanocomposites were characterized with transmission electron microscope and UV-vis absorption spectra. Cyclic voltammetric experiments indicated that AuNPs@PANI nanocomposites showed excellent electroactivity in neutral and even alkaline solution. The obtained AuNPs@PANI nanocomposites-modified electrode was fabricated to simultaneously determine dopamine (DA) and ascorbic acid (AA) by differential pulse voltammetry. The separation between the two peak potentials of DA and AA oxidation is 236 mV. The catalytic peak currents were linearly with the concentrations of DA and AA in the range of 10-1700 and 20-1600 µM with correlation coefficients of 0.9997 and 0.9998, respectively. The detection limits for DA and AA were 5 and 8 µM, respectively.