Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in the General Population Under Stressful Conditions: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

: The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on mental health in the general population. The fear, stress, and uncertainty surrounding that traumatic period could have contributed to the aggravation or possible new onset of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The COvid Mental hEalth Trial (COMET) is a nationwide project organized by the University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", designed as an observational investigation that aimed to gather data from a representative sample of the Italian general population.

Counteracting the effects of maternal obesity on offspring neurodevelopment through Omega-3-based nutritional strategies.

It is becoming increasingly recognized that, in addition to psychological stress, unbalanced maternal nutritional habits can threaten fetal brain development. Maternal obesity is one of the most pressing public health problems facing the world today, as about 40% of pregnant women are obese or gain excessive weight worldwide. This condition can negatively impact offspring's brain development, increasing the risk for autism spectrum disorders, cognitive deficits, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as anxiety and depression.

Promoting mental health in military veterans. Methodology and evaluation tools in a pilot study involving an Equine-Assisted Intervention.

Aims: Military veterans exposed to stressful or traumatic events may experience adjustment difficulties in the post-deployment period, developing a high risk of mental health-related issues. Promising complementary practices such as Equine-Assisted Therapy (EAT) are now widely used, although standardized protocols are missing. The present study aimed to develop an EAT standardized intervention.

Insights into the Sex-Related Effects of Dietary Polyphenols and Metabolic Disruptors on Inflammatory and (Neuro) Endocrine Pathways in Obesity: The HEAL Project.

Background: this study was performed under the umbrella of the Health Extended Alliance for Innovative Therapies, Advanced Lab Research, and Integrated Approaches of Precision Medicine (HEAL ITALIA) partnership and funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, and by the European Union.

Objectives: the overall objective of the HEAL project is to identify innovative and effective therapeutic approaches to reduce disease burden.

Policy Actions Required to Improve Nutrition for Brain Health.

Brain health is a pressing global concern. Poor diet quality is a recognized major environmental risk factor for brain disorders and one of the few that is modifiable. There is substantial evidence that nutrition impacts brain development and brain health across the life course.

Western diet-induced cognitive and metabolic dysfunctions in aged mice are prevented by rosmarinic acid in a sex-dependent fashion.

Background & Aims: Unhealthy lifestyles, such as chronic consumption of a Western Diet (WD), have been associated with increased systemic inflammation and oxidative stress (OS), a condition that may favour cognitive dysfunctions during aging. Polyphenols, such as rosmarinic acid (RA) may buffer low-grade inflammation and OS, characterizing the aging brain that is sustained by WD, promoting healthspan. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of RA to prevent cognitive decline in a mouse model of WD-driven unhealthy aging and to gain knowledge on the specific molecular pathways modulated within the brain.

Meeting statement: Call to action for step-change in health behaviours.

Background: Enabling, supporting and promoting positive health-related behaviours is critical in addressing the major public health challenges of our time, and the multifaceted nature of behaviours requires an evidence-based approach. This statement seeks to suggest how a much-needed enhanced use of behavioural and cultural science and insights for health could be advanced.

Study Design And Methods: and methods: Public health authorities of Europe and Central Asia and international partner organizations in September 2023 met in Copenhagen, Denmark, to discuss the way forward.

Bdnf-Nrf-2 crosstalk and emotional behavior are disrupted in a sex-dependent fashion in adolescent mice exposed to maternal stress or maternal obesity.

Maternal obesity has been recognized as a stressor affecting the developing fetal brain, leading to long-term negative outcomes comparable to those resulting from maternal psychological stress, although the mechanisms have not been completely elucidated. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that adverse prenatal conditions as diverse as maternal stress and maternal obesity might affect emotional regulation and stress response in the offspring through common pathways, with a main focus on oxidative stress and neuroplasticity. We contrasted and compared adolescent male and female offspring in two mouse models of maternal psychophysical stress (restraint during pregnancy - PNS) and maternal obesity (high-fat diet before and during gestation - mHFD) by combining behavioral assays, evaluation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity, immunohistochemistry and gene expression analysis of selected markers of neuronal function and neuroinflammation in the hippocampus, a key region involved in stress appraisal.

The predictive role of proinflammatory and neuroendocrine factors in the acute phases of bipolar disorder: study protocol of a longitudinal controlled trial.

Introduction And Aims: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe and recurring mental illness associated with a significant personal and social burden. It has been recently hypothesized that increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and cortisol, which is also associated with a reduced expression of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), may influence affective recurrences in BD. Our study aims to: 1) assess changes in the levels of peripheral cytokines, BDNF and salivary cortisol during acute and euthymic phases of bipolar disorder, compared to that of a sample oh healthy controls; 2) evaluate whether these changes represent a biosignature for the different phases of the illness.

Acute stress symptoms in general population during the first wave of COVID lockdown in Italy: Results from the COMET trial.

Background: The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented traumatic event that has severely impacted social, economic, and health well-being worldwide. The COvid Mental hEalth Trial was specifically designed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its containment measures on the mental health of the Italian general population in terms of COVID-19-related acute stress disorder (ASD) symptoms.

Methods: The present cross-sectional study is based on an online survey carried out in the period March-May 2020.

The effect of social media and infodemic on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from the COMET multicentric trial.

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the status of pandemic due to the COVID-19 infection. The initial phases of the pandemic were characterized by uncertainty and public fears. In order to cope with such unexpected conditions, people adopted different coping strategies, including search for information, accessing Internet, and using social media.

Rosmarinic Acid Improves Cognitive Abilities and Glucose Metabolism in Aged C57Bl/6N Mice While Disrupting Lipid Profile in Young Adults in a Sex-Dependent Fashion.

A growing body of evidence suggests that regular consumption of natural products might promote healthy aging; however, their mechanisms of action are still unclear. Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a polyphenol holding anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and neuroprotective properties. The aim of this study was to characterise the efficacy of an oral administration of RA in promoting healthspan in a mouse model of physiological aging.

Reduction in the use of green spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on mental health.

Our study examined the use of green spaces before and during the pandemic in a large cohort of Italian twins and evaluated its impact on measures of mental health (depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms). Twins were analysed as individuals and as pairs. A twin design approach was applied to minimize confounding by genetic and shared environmental factors.

Using sport-based interventions for people with severe mental disorders: results from the European EASMH study.

People with severe mental disorders report significantly poorer physical health and a higher mortality rate compared with the general population. Several interventions have been proposed in order to challenge this mortality gap, the promotion of physical activities represents one of the most important strategies. In fact, in people with severe mental disorders, physical activity can improve body composition, quality of life, personal functioning, self-esteem, cognition, and cardiorespiratory fitness, as well as reducing affective, psychotic and anxiety symptoms, cardiometabolic burden and increase the global recovery.

Use of social network as a coping strategy for depression among young people during the COVID-19 lockdown: findings from the COMET collaborative study.

Background: Use of social media (SM) has exponentially grown particularly among youths in the past two years, due to COVID-19-related changing lifestyles. Based on the Italian COvid Mental hEalth Trial (COMET), we investigated the association between SM use and depressive symptoms among Italian young adults (aged 18-24).

Methods: The COMET is a nationwide multi-center cross-sectional study that investigated socio-demographic data, social networking addiction (BSNAS), depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS-21), as well as impulsiveness (BIS-15) and aggressiveness (AQ) in a large sample of youngsters, in order to assess the association between BSNAS and DASS-21 indices.

Depressive Anxiety Symptoms in Hospitalized Children with Chronic Illness during the First Italian COVID-19 Lockdown.

COVID-19 is continuing to spread around the world, having a direct impact on people's daily lives and health. Although the knowledge of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population is now well established, there is less information on its effect on specific and vulnerable populations, such as children with chronic illness (CI). We conducted a multi-centered cross-sectional study among pediatric patients in six public children's hospitals in Italy during the first lockdown, with the aim of assessing the proportion of children with CI presenting anxiety and depressive symptoms, and the clinical and demographic characteristics affecting such symptomatology.

Insomnia and related factors in patients with pre-existing psychiatric disorders compared to the general population during the COVID-19 lockdown: Findings from the multicentric COMET study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has heavily impacted social, economic and health systems worldwide. Necessary confinement measures have, in turn, contributed to the occurrence of several stress-related conditions and deterioration of pre-existing mental conditions, including insomnia.

Objective: The present study sought to investigate the occurrence and severity of insomnia during the COVID-19 lockdown among psychiatric patients and in the general population in the largest Italian sample examined to date.

Inflammatory Signatures of Maternal Obesity as Risk Factors for Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Role of Maternal Microbiota and Nutritional Intervention Strategies.

Obesity is a main risk factor for the onset and the precipitation of many non-communicable diseases. This condition, which is associated with low-grade chronic systemic inflammation, is of main concern during pregnancy leading to very serious consequences for the new generations. In addition to the prominent role played by the adipose tissue, dysbiosis of the maternal gut may also sustain the obesity-related inflammatory milieu contributing to create an overall suboptimal intrauterine environment.