Temporal trends in respiratory pathogens following the COVID-19 pandemic and climate variables: A unicentric retrospective evaluation of 24 pathogens in a temperate subtropical region.

Temperature and humidity are studied in the context of seasonal infections in temperate and tropical zones, but the relationship between viral trends and climate variables in temperate subtropical zones remains underexplored. Our retrospective study analyzes respiratory pathogen incidence and its correlation with climate data in a subtropical zone. Retrospective observational study at Moinhos de Vento Hospital, South Brazil, aiming to assess seasonal trends in respiratory pathogens, correlating them with climate data.

Early growth response 1 (EGR1) is downregulated in peripheral blood from patients with major psychiatric disorders.

Objectives: To evaluate relative expression of genes with the potential to translate environmental stimuli into long-term alterations in the brain - namely Early Growth Response (EGR)1, EGR3, and Cryptochrome Circadian Regulator 2 (CRY2) - in peripheral blood from patients with Bipolar Disorder (BD), Schizophrenia (SZ), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and healthy controls (HC).

Methods: Thirty individuals ranging from 18 to 60 years were recruited for each group (BD, SZ, MDD or HC) from a Brazilian public hospital. Therefore, individuals' peripheral blood was collected and EGR1, EGR3 and CRY2 gene expression analyzed by PCR Real Time.

Cannabidiol as an Adjunctive Treatment for Acute Bipolar Depression: A Pilot Study: Le cannabidiol comme traitement d'appoint de la dépression bipolaire aiguë : une étude pilote.

Objective: The treatment of bipolar depression remains challenging due to the limited effective and safe therapeutic options available; thus, developing newer treatments that are effective and well tolerable is an urgent unmet need. The objective of the present trial was to test 150 to 300 mg/day of cannabidiol as an adjunctive treatment for bipolar depression.

Method: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study to assess the efficacy of adjunctive cannabidiol in bipolar depression was used.

Serum BDNF levels increase during early drug withdrawal in alcohol and crack cocaine addiction.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is involved in several drug-induced brain neuroadaptations. The impact of withdrawal from substances that have different neurological mechanisms on BDNF levels is unclear. Our goal was to compare serum BDNF levels in inpatients with alcohol or crack cocaine use disorders during the early withdrawal period, and to evaluate the association with substance-related outcomes.

Incipient Parallel Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Deltacron Variant in South Brazil.

With the coexistence of multiple lineages and increased international travel, recombination and gene flow are likely to become increasingly important in the adaptive evolution of SARS-CoV-2. These processes could result in genetic introgression and the incipient parallel evolution of multiple recombinant lineages. However, identifying recombinant lineages is challenging, and the true extent of recombinant evolution in SARS-CoV-2 may be underestimated.

Earlier age of onset is associated with a pro-inflammatory state in major depressive disorder.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common condition that affects the general population over a wide range of ages, regardless of gender and social background. Early-onset of MDD in adulthood, between ages of 18 and 30 years, is associated with worse outcomes and increased years of disability. Stress load and physical health have been associated with age of onset in MDD.

Increase in serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels during early withdrawal in severe alcohol users.

Introduction: Changes in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) have been linked to the neuroadaptative consequences of chronic alcohol use and associated with disease severity and prognosis. Few studies have evaluated the influence of drug withdrawal and clinical and sociodemographic data on BDNF levels in severe alcohol users.

Objectives: Our goals were (1) to evaluate variation in BDNF levels during alcohol withdrawal and, (2) to assess the influence of putative confounding factors on BDNF levels.

Gender dysphoria: prejudice from childhood to adulthood, but no impact on inflammation. A cross-sectional controlled study.

Introduction: Gender dysphoria (GD) is characterized by a marked incongruence between experienced gender and one's gender assigned at birth. Transsexual individuals present a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders when compared to non-transsexual populations, and it has been proposed that minority stress, i.e.

Differential biomarker signatures in unipolar and bipolar depression: A machine learning approach.

Objective: This study used machine learning techniques combined with peripheral biomarker measurements to build signatures to help differentiating (1) patients with bipolar depression from patients with unipolar depression, and (2) patients with bipolar depression or unipolar depression from healthy controls.

Methods: We assessed serum levels of interleukin-2, interleukin-4, interleukin-6, interleukin-10, tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ, interleukin-17A, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, lipid peroxidation and oxidative protein damage in 54 outpatients with bipolar depression, 54 outpatients with unipolar depression and 54 healthy controls, matched by sex and age. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.

Gene Regulatory Network of Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex: a Master Regulator Analysis of Major Psychiatric Disorders.

Despite the strong genetic component of psychiatric disorders, traditional genetic studies have failed to find individual genes of large effect size. Thus, alternative methods, using bioinformatics, have been proposed to solve these biological puzzles. Of these, here we employ systems biology-based approaches to identify potential master regulators (MRs) of bipolar disorder (BD), schizophrenia (SZ), and major depressive disorder (MDD), their association with biological processes and their capacity to differentiate disorders' phenotypes.

BDNF prevents central oxidative damage in a chronic unpredictable mild stress model: The possible role of PRDX-1 in anhedonic behavior.

Prolonged activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sustained increase of glucocorticoids have been evidenced in major depression and are related to changes involving neurotrophins and markers of oxidative stress in response to inflammation. This study aimed to evaluate central measures of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), oxidative damage and total antioxidant capacity in rats submitted to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS), as well as to investigate the relationship between BDNF levels and differentially processes. For this purpose, male Wistar rats were submitted to CUMS for six weeks.

Attenuated inflammatory response of monocyte-derived macrophage from patients with BD: a preliminary report.

Background: Innate immune system dysfunction has been recognized as an important element in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD). We aimed to investigate whether there are differences in the response of macrophages derived from patients in the early stages and late stages of BD and healthy subjects.

Methods: Human monocytes purified from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with BD type I (n = 18)-further classified into early- and late stage BD patients according to their functioning- and from healthy individuals (n = 10) were differentiated into macrophages in vitro.

Peripheral Oxidative Stress Markers in Patients with Bipolar Disorder during Euthymia and in Siblings.

Aims: Oxidative stress is increased during the acute phases of bipolar disorder (BD). Our aim here was to analyze oxidative stress biomarkers in patients with BD during euthymia and their siblings.

Method: A cross-sectional study was performed in euthymic patients with BD-I (n=48), unaffected siblings (n=23) and genetically unrelated healthy controls (n=21).

Effects of lithium on inflammatory and neurotrophic factors after an immune challenge in a lisdexamfetamine animal model of mania.

Objective: To evaluate whether an animal model of mania induced by lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (LDX) has an inflammatory profile and whether immune activation by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) has a cumulative effect on subsequent stimuli in this model. We also evaluated the action of lithium (Li) on inflammatory and neurotrophic factors.

Methods: Adult male Wistar rats were subjected to an animal model of mania.

Oxidative stress markers imbalance in late-life depression.

Background: Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathophysiology of mood disorders in young adults. However, there is few data to support its role in the elderly. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate whether subjects with late-life depression (LLD) presented with changes in oxidative stress response in comparison with the non-depressed control group.

Leptin levels and its correlation with crack-cocaine use severity: A preliminary study.

Background: Crack-cocaine is an important public health problem in Brazil and worldwide. It is a potent form of cocaine which results in rapid and damaging stimulating effects on the central nervous system through inhibition of the dopamine transporter. Some studies have suggested that both food and drugs - including crack, can act on the same brain reward mechanisms, altering the dopamine pathways that modulate behavioral responses.

Clinical staging and serum cytokines in bipolar patients during euthymia.

Aims: Changes in serum cytokines and altered neutrophin concentration have been associated with bipolar disorder (BD). Our aim here was to analyze peripheral blood biomarkers according to the clinical stages of BD.

Method: Euthymic BD-I patients were grouped according to their level of functioning in early-stage (n=25) and late-stage (n=23), and compared to healthy siblings (n=23) and genetically unrelated healthy controls (n=21).

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Serum Levels and Hippocampal Volume in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia due to Alzheimer Disease.

Background/aims: Hippocampal atrophy is a recognized biomarker of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology. Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) reduction has been associated with neurodegeneration. We aimed to evaluate BDNF serum levels and hippocampal volume in clinical AD (dementia and mild cognitive impairment [MCI]).

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor increase during treatment in severe mental illness inpatients.

Meta-analytical evidence suggests that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is altered in various psychiatric disorders. However, meta-analyses may be hampered by the heterogeneity of BDNF assays, lack of BDNF standard values and heterogeneity among the populations included in the studies. To address these issues, our study aimed to test, in a 'true-to-life' setting, the hypothesis that the serum BDNF level is nonspecifically reduced in acute severe mental illness (SMI) patients and increases during inpatient treatment.

High levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor are associated with treatment adherence among crack-cocaine users.

Due to the complexity of crack -cocaine addiction treatment, the identification of biological markers that could help determining the impact or outcome of drug use has become a major subject of study. Therefore, we aim to evaluate the association of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) levels in crack -cocaine users with treatment adherence and with drug addiction severity. A sample of 47 male inpatient crack- cocaine users were recruited in a treatment unit, and blood samples were collected at admission and discharge in order to measure BDNF and TBARS serum levels.

Serum BDNF levels in unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with bipolar disorder.

Objective: Unaffected relatives of bipolar disorder (BD) patients have been investigated for the identification of endophenotypes in an attempt to further elucidate the pathophysiology of the disease. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is considered to be implicated in the pathophysiology of BD, but its role as an endophenotype has been poorly studied. We investigated abnormal serum BDNF levels in BD patients, in their unaffected relatives, and in healthy controls.

Increased serum levels of eotaxin/CCL11 in late-stage patients with bipolar disorder: An accelerated aging biomarker?

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is commonly comorbid with many medical disorders including atopy, and appears characterized by progressive social, neurobiological, and functional impairment associated with increasing number of episodes and illness duration. Early and late stages of BD may present different biological features and may therefore require different treatment strategies. Consequently, the aim of this study was to evaluate serum levels of eotaxin/CCL11, eotaxin-2/CCL24, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, TNF-α, IFNγ, BDNF, TBARS, carbonyl, and GPx in a sample of euthymic patients with BD at early and late stages compared to controls.

Impaired endoplasmic reticulum stress response in bipolar disorder: cellular evidence of illness progression.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe chronic psychiatric disorder that has been associated with cellular dysfunctions related to mitochondria, neurotrophin levels, and oxidative stress. Evidence has shown that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress may be a common pathway of the cellular changes described in BD. In the present study we assessed unfolded protein response (UPR) and the effects of this cellular process on lymphocytes from patients with BD.