[The temporal accuracy of agomelatine administration and comparison of antidepressant effect of agomelatine and escitalopram in major depression: a retrospective investigation at a psychiatric outpatient clinic].

Aim: The assessment of antidepressant efficacy of agomelatine, a new chronobiological type of antidepressant as a function of the temporal accuracy of administration, compared to the antidepressive effect of escitalopram.

Methods: In our retrospective study at the end of a 12-week treatment improvement rates were analysed in all depressed patients attending our ourpatient clinic receiving agomelatine (25 or 50 mg daily) or escitalopram (10 or 20 mg daily) monotherapy initiated between 01. 03.

[Validation of a new mood questionnaire on healthy sample].

Depression is a frequent, wide spectrum disease causing substantial suffering. Quantitative tools for measuring depression are rather important both at the clinical and non-clinical state. BDI (Beck Depression Inventory) the HADS (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and the BHS (Beck Hopelessness Scale) are used both in clinical practice and research.

Association of the STin2 polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene with a neurocognitive endophenotype in major depressive disorder.

Background: The aim of our study was to investigate the association of STin2 polymorphism and cognitive dysfunction in major depression.

Methods: 71 patients with major depression and 99 controls were genotyped for STin2. All depressive subjects and 30 controls also completed tests measuring neurocognitive performance.

Association between depression and the Gln460Arg polymorphism of P2RX7 gene: a dimensional approach.

The P2RX7 gene (coding for P2X7 purinergic receptor) has been suggested as a novel candidate gene for major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BPD). The proposed risk allele (G-allele) of the rs2230912 polymorphism results in an amino acid change at the 460th position, marking this genetic variation a possibly functional one. Here we present a case-control analysis of 171 patients diagnosed with MDD or BPD and 178 controls, as well as a dimensional approach using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for studying the Gln460Arg polymorphism of the P2RX7 gene as a genetic risk factor in depression.

[Association of neurocognitive endophenotype and STin2 polymorphism in major depressive disorder].

Two well known polymorphic regions of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) are the 5HT-TLPR which consists of a 44-bp insertion or deletion in the promoter region and the STin2 consisting of variable number of tandem repeats in the second intron. Several studies focused on the association of the 5HTTLPR and behavioral or clinical factors of depression; on the other hand, the relation of the STin2 to major depressive disorder (MDD) is less widely investigated. We carried out a case-control study of 71 MDD patients and 99 healthy control subjects comparing frequencies of the STin2 allele- and genotype variants in the two populations.

Activated protein C alters cytosolic calcium flux in human brain endothelium via binding to endothelial protein C receptor and activation of protease activated receptor-1.

Activated protein C (APC) exerts endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR)-dependent neuroprotective effects in a brain focal ischemia model and direct cellular effects on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) via protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR-1). Because PAR receptors are expressed in brain endothelium and mediate intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) signaling, we hypothesized that APC may regulate intracellular [Ca2+] flux in human brain endothelial cells (BECs) via EPCR and PAR-1. Primary cortical BECs derived from human autopsies (early passage) and HUVECs were used for [Ca2+]i imaging fluorometry.

Protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) in brain microvascular endothelium and its regulation by plasmin and elastase.

Protease-activated receptors (PARs) mediate cell activation after proteolytic cleavage of their extracellular amino terminus. We have reported earlier that primary cultures of rat brain capillary endothelial (RBCE) cells express at least two receptors for thrombin: PAR-1 and PAR-3. In the present study we show that PAR-2 activation by trypsin or by the PAR-2 agonist peptide (SLIGRL) evokes [Ca(2+) ](i) signal in RBCE cells.