Narrative Review of COVID-19 Impact on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Child, Adolescent and Adult Clinical Populations.

The COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine had a significant impact on mental health which resulted in an increase of anxiety and depression in adult, child and adolescent clinical populations. Less is known about the potential effect of pandemic on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) so there is a lack of review work to illustrate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on OCD. The main objective is to review all the empirical contributions published after March 2020 that dealt with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on OCD in adults, children and adolescents, investigating the state-of-the-art literature concerning the impact on OCD and detailing limitations.

Genetic Variation of a DRD2 Co-expression Network is Associated with Changes in Prefrontal Function After D2 Receptors Stimulation.

Dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs) contribute to the inverted U-shaped relationship between dopamine signaling and prefrontal function. Genetic networks from post-mortem human brain revealed 84 partner genes co-expressed with DRD2. Moreover, eight functional single nucleotide polymorphisms combined into a polygenic co-expression index (PCI) predicted co-expression of this DRD2 network and were associated with prefrontal function in humans.

Prefrontal Activity and Connectivity with the Basal Ganglia during Performance of Complex Cognitive Tasks Is Associated with Apathy in Healthy Subjects.

Objective: Convergent evidence indicates that apathy affects cognitive behavior in different neurological and psychiatric conditions. Studies of clinical populations have also suggested the primary involvement of the prefrontal cortex and the basal ganglia in apathy. These brain regions are interconnected at both the structural and functional levels and are deeply involved in cognitive processes, such as working memory and attention.

Carotid intima-media thickness is not associated with vitamin D and PTH levels in patients admitted to an Internal Medicine Department.

Vitamin D (25OHD) and/or parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels have been associated with common carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). We investigated such associations in inpatients consecutively admitted to an Internal Medicine Department. In 168 consecutive patients admitted to our department, 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) was measured by means of RIA and PTH by means of ICMA, whereas IMT by means of ultrasonography.

Assessment of fracture risk by the FRAX algorithm in men and women with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The FRAX algorithm is a diffuse tool to assess fracture risk, but it has not been clinically applied in European patients with diabetes. We investigated FRAX-estimated fracture risk in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), compared with concomitantly enrolled control subjects.

Methods: In our multicentric cross-sectional study, we assessed the FRAX scores of 974 DM and 777 control subjects from three Italian diabetes outpatient clinics, and in DM.