Depression and pain: primary data and meta-analysis among 237 952 people across 47 low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Depression and pain are leading causes of global disability. However, there is a paucity of multinational population data assessing the association between depression and pain, particularly among low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where both are common. Therefore, we investigated this association across 47 LMICs.

Lurasidone in the Treatment of Bipolar Depression: Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews.

Introduction: A burgeoning number of systematic reviews considering lurasidone in the treatment of bipolar depression have occurred since its Food and Drug Administration extended approval in 2013. While a paucity of available quantitative evidence still precludes preliminary meta-analysis on the matter, the present quality assessment of systematic review of systematic reviews, nonetheless, aims at highlighting current essential information on the topic.

Methods: Both published and unpublished systematic reviews about lurasidone mono- or adjunctive therapy in the treatment of bipolar depression were searched by two independent authors inquiring PubMed/Cochrane/Embase/Scopus from inception until October 2016.

Prevalence, incidence and mortality from cardiovascular disease in patients with pooled and specific severe mental illness: a large-scale meta-analysis of 3,211,768 patients and 113,383,368 controls.

Unlabelled: People with severe mental illness (SMI) - schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder - appear at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), but a comprehensive meta-analysis is lacking. We conducted a large-scale meta-analysis assessing the prevalence and incidence of CVD; coronary heart disease; stroke, transient ischemic attack or cerebrovascular disease; congestive heart failure; peripheral vascular disease; and CVD-related death in SMI patients (N=3,211,768) versus controls (N=113,383,368) (92 studies). The pooled CVD prevalence in SMI patients (mean age 50 years) was 9.

The relationship between genetic risk variants with brain structure and function in bipolar disorder: A systematic review of genetic-neuroimaging studies.

Genetic-neuroimaging paradigms could provide insights regarding the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD). Nevertheless, findings have been inconsistent across studies. A systematic review of gene-imaging studies involving individuals with BD was conducted across electronic major databases from inception until January 9th, 2017.

HSV-1 interaction to 3-O-sulfated heparan sulfate in mouse-derived DRG explant and profiles of inflammatory markers during virus infection.

The molecular mechanism of herpes simplex virus (HSV) entry and the associated inflammatory response in the nervous system remain poorly understood. Using mouse-derived ex vivo dorsal root ganglia (DRG) explant model and single cell neurons (SCNs), in this study, we provided a visual evidence for the expression of heparan sulfate (HS) and 3-O-sulfated heparan sulfate (3-OS HS) followed by their interactions with HSV-1 glycoprotein B (gB) and glycoprotein D (gD) during cell entry. Upon heparanase treatment of DRG-derived SCN, a significant inhibition of HSV-1 entry was observed suggesting the involvement of HS role during viral entry.

Does the "" Lose its Shine Over the Time? Assessment of Loss of Lithium Response in a Preliminary Sample of Bipolar Disorder Outpatients.

Background: Though often perceived as a "silver bullet" treatment for bipolar disorder (BD), lithium has seldom reported to lose its efficacy over the time.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess cases of refractoriness toward restarted lithium in BD patients who failed to preserve maintenance.

Method: Treatment trajectories associated with re-instituted lithium following loss of achieved lithium-based maintenance in BD were retrospectively reviewed for 37 BD-I patients (median age 52 years; F:M=17:20 or 46% of the total) over an 8.

The Role of Inhaled Loxapine in the Treatment of Acute Agitation in Patients with Psychiatric Disorders: A Clinical Review.

Loxapine is a first generation antipsychotic, belonging to the dibenzoxazepine class. Recently, loxapine has been reformulated at a lower dose, producing an inhaled powder that can be directly administered to the lungs to treat the agitation associated with psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Thus, the aim of this narrative and clinical mini-review was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of inhaled loxapine in the treatment of acute agitation in patients with psychiatric disorders.

Frailty and incident depression in community-dwelling older people: results from the ELSA study.

Objective: Frailty and pre-frailty are two common conditions in the older people, but whether these conditions could predict depression is still limited to a few longitudinal studies. In this paper, we aimed to investigate whether frailty and pre-frailty are associated with an increased risk of depression in a prospective cohort of community-dwelling older people.

Methods: Four thousand seventy-seven community-dwelling men and women over 60 years without depression at baseline were included from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of minocycline in schizophrenia.

Objective: Our aim was to perform an updated systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy and safety of adjunctive minocycline as a treatment of schizophrenia.

Methods: We conducted a PubMed/Scopus database search from inception to 3 February 2016 for randomized, placebo-controlled trials (RCTs), open non-randomized studies, and case reports/series evaluating minocycline in patients with schizophrenia. Random-effects meta-analysis of positive, negative, depressive, and cognitive symptom rating scales, discontinuation and adverse effects rates calculating standardized mean difference (SMD), and risk ratios±95% confidence intervals (CI 95%) were calculated.

Treating the Synapse in Major Psychiatric Disorders: The Role of Postsynaptic Density Network in Dopamine-Glutamate Interplay and Psychopharmacologic Drugs Molecular Actions.

Dopamine-glutamate interplay dysfunctions have been suggested as pathophysiological key determinants of major psychotic disorders, above all schizophrenia and mood disorders. For the most part, synaptic interactions between dopamine and glutamate signaling pathways take part in the postsynaptic density, a specialized ultrastructure localized under the membrane of glutamatergic excitatory synapses. Multiple proteins, with the role of adaptors, regulators, effectors, and scaffolds compose the postsynaptic density network.

Psychological perspective of medication adherence in transplantation.

Aim: To identify the risk factors and the post-transplant psychological symptoms that affect adherence to therapy in a population of kidney transplant recipients.

Methods: The study examined the psychological variables likely responsible for the non-adherent behavior using a psychological-psychiatric assessment, evaluation of the perception of patients' health status, and an interview regarding the anti-rejection drug therapy assumption. The study included 74 kidney transplant recipients.

Experimental drugs for bipolar psychosis.

Psychotic features are common in bipolar disorder (BD), especially during acute mania. Even when early detected, their long-term management is difficult, essentially due to the unsatisfactory efficacy/tolerability profile of currently available treatments, thus soliciting the development of novel experimental drugs. Areas covered: Potential drug targets towards the development of experimental drugs in the treatment of bipolar psychosis are yet to be systematically characterized.

Current and Future Perspectives on the Major Depressive Disorder: Focus on the New Multimodal Antidepressant Vortioxetine.

Background: Vortioxetine (VRX) is a multimodal antidepressant that acts as serotonin (5HT) transporter inhibitor as well as 5HT3A and 5HT7 receptors antagonist, 5HT1A and 5HT1B receptors partial agonist. It was recently approved in the US and the EU for the treatment of adult patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

Objective: The present article aims at systematically reviewing findings of the published and unpublished research on the pharmacological properties, efficacy, safety and tolerability of oral VRX in the treatment of MDD.

Effect of agomelatine treatment on C-reactive protein levels in patients with major depressive disorder: an exploratory study in "real-world," everyday clinical practice.

Objective: Agomelatine is a newer antidepressant but, to date, no studies have been carried out investigating its effects on C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in major depressive disorder (MDD) before and after treatment. The present study aimed (i) to investigate the effects of agomelatine treatment on CRP levels in a sample of patients with MDD and (ii) to investigate if CRP variations were correlated with clinical improvement in such patients.

Methods: 30 adult outpatients (12 males, 18 females) with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) diagnosis of MDD were recruited in "real-world," everyday clinical practice and treated with a flexible dose of agomelatine for 12 weeks.

Lipomatous hamartoma-like lesion of a bicuspid aortic valve: an incidental surgical finding.

Cardiac valve lipomatous hamartomas are very rare lesions with preferential localization on the pericardium, followed by the endocardial surfaces. We report a quite unique case of a lipomatous hamartoma-like lesion involving a bicuspid aortic valve. The lesion was incidentally found in a young patient undergoing cardiac surgery for aortic regurgitation, and the diagnosis was done by histology.

Suicide during Perinatal Period: Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Clinical Correlates.

Perinatal period may pose a great challenge for the clinical management and treatment of psychiatric disorders in women. In fact, several mental illnesses can arise during pregnancy and/or following childbirth. Suicide has been considered a relatively rare event during the perinatal period.

Lisdexamfetamine in the treatment of moderate-to-severe binge eating disorder in adults: systematic review and exploratory meta-analysis of publicly available placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trials.

Background: Preliminary placebo-controlled evidence paved the ground to the US Food and Drug Administration approval extension of lisdexamfetamine for the treatment of moderate-to-severe binge eating disorder (BED) in adults.

Objectives: To provide a preliminary qualitative and quantitative synthesis of the placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trials (RCTs) considering the efficacy and tolerability of lisdexamfetamine in the acute and/or maintenance treatment of moderate-to-severe BED in adults.

Methods: A preliminary, yet comprehensive, systematic review was performed by accessing a broad range of resources providing publicly available data about lisdexamfetamine at the time of inquiry (March 2016).

Celecoxib Adjunctive Treatment to Antipsychotics in Schizophrenia: A Review of Randomized Clinical Add-On Trials.

Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic and debilitating mental disorder. Past literature has reported various hypotheses about the psychopathology of schizophrenia. Recently, a growing literature has been trying to explain the role of inflammation in the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia.

The Novel Antipsychotic Cariprazine (RGH-188): State-of-the-Art in the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders.

Cariprazine (RGH-188) is a novel antipsychotic drug that exerts partial agonism of dopamine D2/D3 receptors with preferential binding to D3 receptor, antagonism of 5HT2B receptors and partial agonism of 5HT1A. Currently, cariprazine is in late-stage clinical development (phase III clinical trials) in patients with schizophrenia (S) and in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), as well as an adjunctive treatment in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and drug-resistant MDD. Cariprazine has completed phase III trials for the acute treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar mania, phase II trials for the bipolar depression and MDD whilst it is undergoing phase III trials as an adjunct to antidepressants.

An update of safety of clinically used atypical antipsychotics.

Introduction: The atypical antipsychotic (APs) drugs have become the most widely used agents to treat a variety of psychoses because of their superiority with regard to safety and tolerability profile compared to conventional/'typical' APs.

Areas Covered: We aimed at providing a synthesis of most current evidence about the safety and tolerability profile of the most clinically used atypical APs so far marketed. Qualitative synthesis followed an electronic search made inquiring of the following databases: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library from inception until January 2016, combining free terms and MESH headings for the topics of psychiatric disorders and all atypical APs as following: ((safety OR adverse events OR side effects) AND (aripiprazole OR asenapine OR quetiapine OR olanzapine OR risperidone OR paliperidone OR ziprasidone OR lurasidone OR clozapine OR amisulpride OR iloperidone)).

The association between smoking prevalence and eating disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background And Aims: Cigarette smoking is associated with severe mental illness, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and with morbidity and mortality, but the association with anorexia (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED) is unclear. This meta-analysis compared the odds of smoking in eating disorders (ED) (ED = AN or BN or BED) versus healthy controls (HC) and calculated the prevalence of smokers in people with ED.

Methods: Three independent authors searched PubMed, MEDLINE and Scopus from database inception until 31 December 2015 for studies reporting data on life-time or current smoking prevalence in BED, BN and AN with or without control group.

Prevalence and clinical features associated with bipolar disorder polypharmacy: a systematic review.

Background: Uncertainty exists regarding the prevalence and clinical features associated with the practice of polypharmacy in bipolar disorder (BD), warranting a systematic review on the matter.

Methods: Three authors independently searched major electronic databases from inception till September 2015. Articles were included that reported either qualitative or quantitative data about the prevalence and clinical features associated with polypharmacy in adult cases of BD.

Aripiprazole for relapse prevention and craving in alcohol use disorder: current evidence and future perspectives.

Introduction: Among other approaches, the modulation of the dopaminergic pathway has been advocated in the therapeutic management of Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD). A potential avenue toward the modulation of the dopaminergic pathway across varying substance disorders seems to be provided by aripiprazole, a second-generation antipsychotic characterized by a peculiar pharmacodynamics signature.

Areas Covered: In this review, the authors provided a qualitative synthesis and a critical perspective on the efficacy of aripiprazole in relapse prevention and craving in AUD.

New advances in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder: the multimodal antidepressant vortioxetine.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a persistent condition characterized by chronic anxiety, exaggerated worry and tension, mainly comorbid with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Currently, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors are recommended as first-line treatment of GAD. However, some patients may not respond to the treatment or discontinue due to adverse effects.