The authors sought to determine whether subjects with the sole diagnosis of depressive personality disorder are at higher risk for developing dysthymia and major depression than are healthy comparison subjects.Eighty-five women with depressive personality disorder who had no comorbid axis I or axis II disorders and 85 age-matched healthy comparison women were initially recruited and reinterviewed 3 years later to evaluate the cumulative incidence rate of dysthymia and major depression.At the 3-year follow-up assessment, the women with depressive personality disorder had a significantly greater odds ratio for developing dysthymia than did the healthy comparison women. The difference in odds ratios for the development of major depression between women with and without depressive personality disorder did not reach statistical significance.The present study, the first to determine the subsequent development of dysthymia and major depression in subjects with the sole diagnosis of depressive personality disorder, found that subjects with depressive personality disorder had a greater risk of developing dysthymia than did healthy comparison subjects at 3-year follow-up. Findings of the current study also suggest that depressive personality disorder may mediate the effects of a family history of axis I unipolar mood disorders.
Sleep can be easily disrupted by variety of conditions. Most of medical illnesses could be a primary condition causing secondary insomnia. The common underlying mechanism of secondary insomnia is presumed to be stress effects on sleep. The assessment and treatment of secondary insomnia are often complicated. Establishing an causal inference between primary condition and insomnia is the key to assessment. However, it can be difficult even for experienced clinicians due to diagnostic ambiguity of secondary insomnia. Therefore, through medical evaluation and integrative understanding of primary condition is essential to manage secondary insomnia properly. Although treatment have been usually focused on the primary medical illnesses per se, nonpharmacologic interventions, such as sleep hygiene, might be effective in many cases.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship of serum reproductive hormone levels with cognitive function and negative symptoms in schizophrenic women during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Thirty-five women with chronic schizophrenia who had minimal positive symptoms participated in this study. We evaluated the correlation of serum reproductive hormone levels with the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) and cognitive function tests such as the Immediate Visual Recognition Scale, Oral Fluency Test, List Recall Scale with List Acquisition Scale, Trail Making Tests A and B, and Digit Symbol Test. The patients were divided into two subgroups (low estradiol group and normal estradiol group) using the normal serum reference range for estradiol. Significant correlation between SANS subcategories, such as Alogia and Attention Impairment, and estradiol were found. Moreover, significant relationships between the estradiol level and the Oral Fluency Test, List Recall Scale with List Acquisition Scale, Trail Making Test B and Digit Symbol Test were observed. In the low estradiol group, the SANS scores, except for Anhedonia-Asociality and Avolition-Apathy, were significantly higher than those in the normal estradiol group. Patients in the low estradiol group had a significantly lower performance in the cognitive function tests, except Visual Recognition Scale, when compared to patients in the normal estradiol group. These results suggest that for schizophrenic women of reproductive age, lower levels of estrogen are associated with more severe negative symptomatology as well as reduced performance in cognitive function, especially verbal performance and executive functioning.
Abstract The study was conducted to evaluate the cognitive deteriorations induced by sleep deprivation with the computerized neurocognitive tests and the P300 event‐related potential. Thirty healthy college students (22 men, eight women) participated in the present study. Subjects remained awake for 38 h under continuous surveillance. In the morning and the evening of the two study days, the computerized neurocognitive tests and the P300 were performed. In vigilance test and reaction unit test, there were significant cognitive impairments during sleep deprivation. However, in the cognitrone test there was significant functional improvement, which might be due to the practice effect. The P300 latency was significantly prolonged and the amplitudes decreased during sleep deprivation. The cognitive impairment during 38 h of sleep deprivation was mainly in terms of vigilance and reaction time. In contrast, higher complex cognitive function such as fine perceptual analyses, visual discrimination and working memory might be not affected by 38 h of total sleep deprivation. The changes of P300 were significantly correlated with the results of vigilance and reaction unit tests but not with the cognitrone test. Taken together, these results suggest that the P300 changes that occur during sleep deprivation are a reflection of the decrement in vigilance, which prolongs reaction time.
The authors examined the genetic polymorphisms of alcohol dehydrogenase 2 and 3 (ADH2 and ADH3) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) in patients diagnosed as having Cloninger's type I or type II alcoholism.Seventy-two alcoholic men and 38 nonalcoholic, healthy men were tested for the distribution of genotypes and alleles of ADH2, ADH3, and ALDH2. Forty-eight of the alcoholic men had type I alcoholism, and 24 had type II alcoholism.The frequencies of ADH2*1 and ADH3*2 alleles were significantly higher in men with type II alcoholism than in men with type I alcoholism and healthy men. The frequency of the ALDH2*1 allele was significantly higher in men with alcohol dependence than in healthy men.The genetic characteristics of alcohol dehydrogenases in men with type I alcoholism were similar to those of healthy men, and the genetic characteristics of aldehyde dehydrogenase in men with type I alcoholism were similar to those of men with type II alcoholism. These findings suggest that the genetic characteristics of alcohol metabolism in type I alcoholism fall between nonalcoholism and type II alcoholism.
Seasonal affective disorder and seasonal changes in mood and behavior are associated with several genes that regulate circadian rhythms. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the C825T polymorphism of the G-protein β3 subunit and seasonal variations in mood and behavior in a young healthy Korean population.A total of 507 young Korean participants were recruited through a newspaper advertisement, and their seasonality was evaluated by the Korean version of the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire to assess the global seasonality score (GSS). We analyzed the CC, CT, and TT genotypes and their association with the GSS score and subscales.T allele carriers of the GNB3 C825T polymorphism were more likely to score higher on body weight and GSS. In the female group, the T allele carriers obtained significantly high total GSS and its subscale scores for mood, body weight, energy level, and appetite; however, differences in genotypes and allele carriers were also observed in the male participants.These results suggested that GNB3 C825T polymorphism plays a role in seasonal variations in mood, body weight, energy level, and appetite in a Korean population, particularly in females.
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