Effects of n-3 fatty acids on depressive symptoms and dispositional optimism after myocardial infarction.

Background: In patients who have experienced a myocardial infarction (MI), n-3 (omega-3) PUFA status is low, whereas the risk of depression is increased.

Objective: The objective was to assess whether the plant-derived α-linolenic acid (ALA) and the fish fatty acids EPA and DHA would improve affective states.

Design: In a secondary analysis of the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Alpha Omega Trial, 4116 of 4837 (85.

Prevalence, demographic and clinical characteristics of body dysmorphic disorder among psychiatric outpatients with mood, anxiety or somatoform disorders.

Aims: To describe the prevalence, demographic and clinical characteristics of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) compared with other psychiatric outpatients with a mood, anxiety or somatoform disorder.

Method: Outpatients referred for treatment of a mood, anxiety or somatoform disorder were routinely assessed at intake. A structured interview (MINI-Plus), observer-based and self-rating instruments were administered by an independent assessor.

Personality traits and childhood trauma as correlates of metabolic risk factors: the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA).

Objective: Personality and childhood trauma may affect cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. However, evidence for an association with metabolic risk factors for CVD is limited and ambiguous. Moreover, despite their interrelatedness, personality and childhood trauma were not yet studied simultaneously.

C-reactive protein haplotypes and dispositional optimism in obese and nonobese elderly subjects.

Background: Chronic low-grade inflammation, characterized by elevated plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), has been inversely associated with dispositional optimism. Using a Mendelian randomization design, this study explores whether CRP haplotypes that determine CRP plasma levels are also associated with dispositional optimism.

Methods: In a sample of 1,084 community-dwelling subjects (aged 60-85 years) from three cohort studies (Arnhem Elderly Study, n = 426; Leiden Longevity Study, n = 355; Zutphen Elderly Study, n = 303), six CRP polymorphisms (rs2808628, rs2808630, rs1205, rs1800947, rs1417938, and rs3091244) coding for five common haplotypes were genotyped.

Effects of n-3 fatty acids on cognitive decline: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in stable myocardial infarction patients.

Background: Epidemiological studies suggest a protective effect of n-3 fatty acids derived from fish (eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA] and docosahexaenoic acid [DHA]) against cognitive decline. For α-linolenic acid (ALA) obtained from vegetable sources, the effect on cognitive decline is unknown. We examined the effect of n-3 fatty acid supplementation on cognitive decline in coronary heart disease patients.

The effect of aripiprazole and quinagolide, a dopamine agonist, in a patient with symptomatic pituitary prolactinoma and chronic psychosis.

Background: Highly potent dopamine D(2) receptor antagonistic antipsychotics may induce hyperprolactinemia. Conversely, drugs for the treatment of prolactinoma may activate dopamine D2 receptors, which can induce or aggravate psychosis. Aripiprazole, as a partial D(2) receptor agonist, may be the drug of choice in patients suffering from both psychosis and prolactinoma.

Telomere length and mental well-being in elderly men from the Netherlands and Greece.

Telomeres, repetitive DNA sequences that promote chromosomal stability, have been related to different measures of mental well-being and self-rated health, but mainly in women during adulthood. We aimed to investigate whether accelerated telomere shortening is associated with poor mental well-being and poor self-rated health in community-dwelling elderly men. Leukocyte telomere length was measured using quantitative PCR in two different samples of 203 elderly men (mean age 78 years) from the Netherlands in 1993, and 123 elderly men (mean age 84 years) from Greece in 2000.

Glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptor polymorphisms and clinical characteristics in bipolar disorder patients.

Introduction: The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis is often found to be dysregulated in bipolar disorder (BD) while stress and changes in day-night rhythms can trigger a new mood episode. Genetic variants of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR)- and mineralocorticoid receptor (MR)-gene influence both the reactivity of the stress-response and associate with changes in mood. In this study we tested the hypothesis that these polymorphisms associate with different clinical characteristics of BD.

Parental longevity correlates with offspring's optimism in two cohorts of community-dwelling older subjects.

Dispositional optimism and other positive personality traits have been associated with longevity. Using a familial approach, we investigated the relationship between parental longevity and offspring's dispositional optimism among community-dwelling older subjects. Parental age of death was assessed using structured questionnaires in two different population-based samples: the Leiden Longevity Study (n = 1,252, 52.

Antidepressant use and salivary cortisol in depressive and anxiety disorders.

Antidepressants are an effective treatment for depressive and anxiety disorders. Those disorders are frequently accompanied by heightened cortisol levels. Antidepressants may affect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning, the alteration of which could be partially responsible for treatment efficacy.

Age, obesity and inflammation at baseline predict the effects of testosterone administration on the metabolic syndrome.

Background: Testosterone administration to hypogonadal men improves the metabolic syndrome. This study analyzed whether age, serum testosterone, body mass index/waist circumference, increment in testosterone values and C-reactive protein (CRP) predicted the outcome of testosterone administration.

Materials And Methods: A total of 110 mainly elderly men, aged between 18 and 83 years (mean±SD=59.

Dispositional optimism and loneliness in older men.

Background: Dispositional optimism, defined as a generalized tendency to positive outcome expectancies, is associated with well-being and successful aging. However, it remains unclear whether optimism is also correlated to less feelings of loneliness over time. We aimed to determine whether dispositional optimism is prospectively associated with less feelings of loneliness, independently of potential confounders inherent to the aging process.

A long-term follow-up study of mortality in transsexuals receiving treatment with cross-sex hormones.

Objective: Adverse effects of long-term cross-sex hormone administration to transsexuals are not well documented. We assessed mortality rates in transsexual subjects receiving long-term cross-sex hormones.

Design: A cohort study with a median follow-up of 18.

Symptom dimensions of depression and anxiety and the metabolic syndrome.

Objective: To investigate the association between depression and anxiety symptoms and the metabolic syndrome (MetSyn), using a dimensional approach. The association between depression and anxiety, on the one hand, and the MetSyn as a cluster or its individual components, on the other hand, is equivocal. The categorical nature of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition might partly explain the inconsistent findings.

Reliability and validity of the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale in clinical outpatients with depressive disorders.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: The Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF) is widely used to assess psychological, social and occupational functioning. The validity and reliability of the GAF in clinical practice have only scarcely been studied in naturalistic samples.

Methods: A total of 432 outpatients with a current major depressive disorder (MDD) were evaluated with routine outcome monitoring (ROM).

Correlates of (inappropriate) benzodiazepine use: the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA).

Aim: Results on determinants of benzodiazepine (BZD) use in general and inappropriate use were inconsistent and mostly univariate. The relative importance of sociodemographic, psychological and physical determinants has never been investigated in a comprehensive, multivariate model.

Methods: We included 429 BZD users and 2423 non-users from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA) in order to investigate sociodemographic, psychological and physical determinants of BZD use and inappropriate use by logistic and linear regression analyses.

A common and functional mineralocorticoid receptor haplotype enhances optimism and protects against depression in females.

Mineralocorticoid (MR) and glucocorticoid receptors (GR) are abundantly expressed in the limbic brain and mediate cortisol effects on the stress-response and behavioral adaptation. Dysregulation of the stress response impairs adaptation and is a risk factor for depression, which is twice as abundant in women than in men. Because of the importance of MR for appraisal processes underlying the initial phase of the stress response we investigated whether specific MR haplotypes were associated with personality traits that predict the risk of depression.

Vitality predicts level of guideline-concordant care in routine treatment of mood, anxiety and somatoform disorders.

Objective: To examine the clinical and psychosocial correlates of adherence to treatment guidelines among outpatients with common mental disorders in a routine clinical setting.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we analysed 192 patients who were treated for a mood, anxiety or somatoform disorder with pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy or a combination of both treatment modalities. Guideline adherence was assessed with a disorder independent set of quality indicators during up to 3 years of follow-up.

Pre-adult versus adult onset major depressive disorder in a naturalistic patient sample: the Leiden Routine Outcome Monitoring Study.

Background: Pre-adult onset of major depressive disorder (MDD) may predict a more severe phenotype of depression. As data from naturalistic psychiatric specialty care settings are scarce, we examined phenotypic differences between pre-adult and adult onset MDD in a large sample of consecutive out-patients.

Method: Altogether, 1552 out-patients, mean age 39.

The efficacy of n-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA (fish oil) for perinatal depression.

Depressive symptoms are common during pregnancy and the post-partum period. Although essential n-3 PUFA may have beneficial effects on depression, it remains unclear whether they are also effective for perinatal depression. The purpose of the present study was to assess the efficacy of n-3 supplementation for perinatal depression, by performing a meta-analysis on currently available data.