Leveraging Social Networks to Integrate Depression Treatment into Primary Health and Tuberculosis Care in Brazil.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) and depression are highly comorbid and linked to higher rates of death and disability. Several evidence-based treatments for depression have been successfully implemented in low- and middle-income countries, but more knowledge is needed on how to bring these innovations to scale within complex 'real world' public health systems.

Objective: To explore whether the principles of social network analysis could be used to enhance receptivity to integrating depression treatment into primary care for individuals with and without TB in Brazil.

Barriers and Facilitators to Integrating Depression Treatment Within a TB Program and Primary Care in Brazil.

Tuberculosis (TB) and depression is common and is associated with poor TB outcomes. The World Health Organization End TB Strategy explicitly calls for the integration of TB and mental health services. Interpersonal Counseling (IPC) is a brief evidence-based treatment for depression that can be delivered by non-mental health specialists with expert supervision.

The positive impact of maternal depression intervention on children's emotional and behavioral symptoms in a low-resource setting.

Objective: Children of depressed mothers are at risk of developing mental health problems. We sought to determine whether treatment for maternal depression delivered by community health workers (CHW) would decrease behavioral/emotional symptoms in their child. An intervention treating maternal depressive symptoms in a low-middle-income country can have a high global impact.

Association of Task-Shared Psychological Interventions With Depression Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis.

Importance: Task sharing, the training of nonspecialist workers with no formal experience in counseling, is a promising strategy for addressing the large gap in treatment for depression in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Objective: To examine the outcomes and moderators of task-shared psychological interventions associated with depression severity, response, and remission.

Data Sources: Systematic literature searches in PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library up to January 1, 2021.

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Indicators of Immune Activity: A Systematic Review.

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a prevalent subtype of early life stress associated with changes in immunological and neuroendocrine systems leading to inflammatory responses of the organism and increasing several inflammatory and immune markers. We aimed to conduct a systematic review concerning the association between CSA and indicators of immune activity. We conducted a search for articles in PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Web of Science, using the key words: ("Child sexual abuse" OR "childhood maltreatment" OR "sexual violence" OR "posttraumatic stress disorder" OR "rape") AND ("cytokines" OR "inflammatory markers" OR "interleukin" OR "tumor necrosis factor" OR "C-reactive protein").

Correlations between caregiver psychiatric symptoms and offspring psychopathology in a low-resource setting.

Objective: Associations between parental/caregiver depression and adverse child outcomes are well established and have been described through one or more mechanisms: child psychopathology following exposure to a depressed caregiver, child psychopathology exacerbating a caregiver's depression, and caregiver and offspring depression sharing the same etiology. Data from low and middle-income countries is scarce. We examined correlations between common symptoms of mental disorders in caregivers and their offspring's psychopathology in a Brazilian sample.

Task shifting interpersonal counseling for depression: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial in primary care.

Background: Task shifting approaches (rational redistribution of tasks among health workforce teams) to train lay professionals to assist with integrating mental health treatment in primary care has been recommended to close the mental health treatment gap for depression in low- and middle-income countries. This study aims to examine the a new model for depression care in a low-resource environment compared to enhanced treatment at usual (E-TAU).

Methods: We trained non-specialist community health workers (local lay employees of the public health system) to provide Interpersonal Counseling (IPC) to treat depressive symptoms in the Brazilian, São Paulo city, family health strategy (FHS).

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) polymorphisms modulate working memory in individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls.

Objective: Cognitive impairment is a core feature of schizophrenia, related to dopaminergic dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). It is hypothesized that functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs4680 of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene could mediate the relationship between cognition and dopamine activity in the PFC. Other COMT SNPs could also play a role.

Polymorphisms in schizophrenia candidate gene UFD1L may contribute to cognitive deficits.

We aimed to investigate UFD1L polymorphisms in schizophrenia and in relation to cognition. A total of 299 cases and 363 controls were genotyped, and 130 patients completed nine neuropsychological tests. We found that rs5992403 AA-genotype carriers showed lower scores on the set-shifting task.