Shorter total sleep time is associated with lower CD4+/CD8+ T cell ratios in virally suppressed men with HIV.

Study Objectives: Although poor sleep quality is associated with lower CD4+ T cell counts among people living with HIV (PLWH), the association between objective sleep metrics and T lymphocyte subset counts is unknown. We evaluated the association between polysomnography (PSG) derived sleep metrics and T lymphocyte subpopulations in a cohort of men living with HIV.

Methods: Virally suppressed men living with HIV participating in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study underwent home overnight PSG.

Prevalence and Predictors of Sleep-Disordered Breathing in Men Participating in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study.

Background: Data on the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in people with HIV are limited. Moreover, whether the associations between SDB and age or BMI differ by HIV status is unknown.

Research Question: Is SDB more prevalent in men with HIV than those without HIV, and do the predictors of SDB differ between the two groups?

Study Design And Methods: Home polysomnography was used in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study to assess SDB prevalence in men with (n = 466; 92% virologically suppressed) and without (n = 370) HIV.

Sleep disturbance and kynurenine metabolism in depression.

Objective: Although the interrelationships between sleep disturbance, inflammation, and depression have been found, molecular mechanisms that link these conditions are largely unknown. Kynurenine metabolism is hypothesized to be a key mechanism that links inflammation and depression. Inflammation activates the kynurenine pathway, leading to increases in 3-hydroxykynurenine (3HK) and quinolinic acid (QA), potentially neurotoxic metabolites, and decreases in kynurenic acid (KynA), a potentially neuroprotective compound.

A critical review of trials of transcranial direct current stimulation and trigeminal nerve stimulation for depression: the issue of treatment-emergent mania.

Objective:: This study is a critical review analyzing occurrence of treatment-emergent mania (TEM) related to transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS).

Method:: We present a systematic review of the literature on TEM related to tDCS and TNS treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), conducted in accordance with the recommendations from Cochrane Group and the PRISMA guidelines.

Results:: Our search identified few reported episodes of TEM in the literature.

Impact of social isolation on behavioral health in elderly: Systematic review.

Aim: To examine and compare the effects of subjective and objective social isolation on behavioral health in elderly adults.

Methods: A systematic search of PubMed was performed for original research articles from peer-reviewed journals examining one of the following topics: "Social isolation and sleep disturbance", "social isolation and depression", or "social isolation and fatigue in older adults". Studies were selected following the criteria established based on the aim of this review.

Is Inflammation a Link Between Self-Reported Health and Infectious Disease Risk?

Self-reported health (SRH) has been consistently shown to predict morbidity and mortality. However, the mechanisms underlying this association are poorly understood. The study by Cohen and colleagues reported in this issue of Psychosomatic Medicine fills this gap by examining a potential biological mechanism: alteration of immune system functioning.

Trait sensitivity to social disconnection enhances pro-inflammatory responses to a randomized controlled trial of endotoxin.

Unlabelled: One proposed mechanism for the association between social isolation and poor health outcomes is inflammation. Lonely or socially disconnected individuals show greater inflammatory responses, including up-regulation of pro-inflammatory gene expression, and people who are sensitive to cues of social disconnection (e.g.

Plasma levels of soluble TNF receptors 1 and 2 after tDCS and sertraline treatment in major depression: Results from the SELECT-TDCS trial.

Background: The cytokine hypothesis of depression postulates that the pathophysiology of this illness incorporates an increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which leads to an over-activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis as well as monoaminergic disturbances. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether the amelioration of depressive symptoms could decrease cytokine levels. Notwithstanding antidepressant drug therapy might exert anti-inflammatory effects, the effects of non-invasive neuromodulatory approaches like transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on pro-inflammatory cytokine networks are largely unknown.

Sleep disturbance and longitudinal risk of inflammation: Moderating influences of social integration and social isolation in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study.

Both sleep disturbance and social isolation increase the risk for morbidity and mortality. Systemic inflammation is suspected as a potential mechanism of these associations. However, the complex relationships between sleep disturbance, social isolation, and inflammation have not been examined in a population-based longitudinal study.

Effective gene delivery into human stem cells with a cell-targeting Peptide-modified bioreducible polymer.

Stem cells are poorly permissive to non-viral gene transfection reagents. In this study, we explored the possibility of improving gene delivery into human embryonic (hESC) and mesenchymal (hMSC) stem cells by synergizing the activity of a cell-binding ligand with a polymer that releases nucleic acids in a cytoplasm-responsive manner. A 29 amino acid long peptide, RVG, targeting the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAchR) was identified to bind both hMSC and H9-derived hESC.

Persistent sleep disturbance: a risk factor for recurrent depression in community-dwelling older adults.

Study Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the associations between the temporal and severity characteristics of sleep disturbance and subsequent depression in community-dwelling older adults.

Design: A prospective cohort study with assessment of sleep disturbance and depression at baseline and across 2 years of follow-up.

Setting: Three urban communities in the United States.

Gender, obesity and repeated elevation of C-reactive protein: data from the CARDIA cohort.

C-reactive Protein (CRP) measurements above 10 mg/L have been conventionally treated as acute inflammation and excluded from epidemiologic studies of chronic inflammation. However, recent evidence suggest that such CRP elevations can be seen even with chronic inflammation. The authors assessed 3,300 participants in The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, who had two or more CRP measurements between 1992/3 and 2005/6 to a) investigate characteristics associated with repeated CRP elevation above 10 mg/L; b) identify subgroups at high risk of repeated elevation; and c) investigate the effect of different CRP thresholds on the probability of an elevation being one-time rather than repeated.

Early life stress and inflammatory mechanisms of fatigue in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study.

Fatigue is highly prevalent and causes serious disruption in quality of life. Although cross-sectional studies suggest childhood adversity is associated with adulthood fatigue, longitudinal evidence of this relationship and its specific biological mechanisms have not been established. This longitudinal study examined the association between early life stress and adulthood fatigue and tested whether this association was mediated by low-grade systemic inflammation as indexed by circulating C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6).

Psychometric analysis of the Korean version of the Disgust Scale-Revised.

Objective: Disgust is a basic emotion associated with feelings of revulsion and withdrawal behaviors from dangerous situations. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Disgust Scale--Revised (DS-R), a tool designed to measure individuals' responses to various disgust-provoking situations, among Korean populations.

Methods: A sample of 1117 healthy volunteers completed self-report questionnaires containing the 27-item DS-R.

Prior depression history and deterioration of physical health in community-dwelling older adults--a prospective cohort study.

Objective: Depression worsens outcomes of physical illness. However, it is unknown whether this negative effect persists after depressive symptoms remit in older adults. This study examined whether prior depression history predicts deterioration of physical health in community-dwelling older adults.

Prospective association between C-reactive protein and fatigue in the coronary artery risk development in young adults study.

Background: Fatigue is highly prevalent and causes serious disruption in quality of life. Although the underlying biological mechanism is unknown, increases in inflammation have been implicated. This prospective study examined the association between C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker of systemic inflammation, and fatigue 5 years later.

To assess, to control, to exclude: effects of biobehavioral factors on circulating inflammatory markers.

Behavioral scientists have increasingly included inflammatory biology as mechanisms in their investigation of psychosocial dynamics on the pathobiology of disease. However, a lack of standardization of inclusion and exclusion criteria and assessment of relevant control variables impacts the interpretation of these studies. The present paper reviews and discusses human biobehavioral factors that can affect the measurement of circulating markers of inflammation.

Comparative epidemiology of chronic fatigue syndrome in Brazilian and British primary care: prevalence and recognition.

Background: Although fatigue is a ubiquitous symptom across countries, clinical descriptions of chronic fatigue syndrome have arisen from a limited number of high-income countries. This might reflect differences in true prevalence or clinical recognition influenced by sociocultural factors.

Aims: To compare the prevalence, physician recognition and diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome in London and São Paulo.

Sleep disturbance and depression recurrence in community-dwelling older adults: a prospective study.

Objective: A prior depressive episode is thought to increase the risk of depression. However, among older adults with prior depression, it is unclear whether sleep disturbance predicts depression recurrence independent of other depressive symptoms.

Method: A 2-year prospective cohort study was conducted with 351 community-dwelling older adults ages 60 years and older: 145 persons with a history of major or nonmajor depression in full remission and 206 without a prior history of depression or any mental illness.

Sleep loss activates cellular inflammatory signaling.

Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that sleep disturbance is associated with inflammation and related disorders including cardiovascular disease, arthritis, and diabetes mellitus. This study was undertaken to test the effects of sleep loss on activation of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB, a transcription factor that serves a critical role in the inflammatory signaling cascade.

Methods: In 14 healthy adults (seven women; seven men), peripheral blood mononuclear cell NF-kappaB was repeatedly assessed, along with enumeration of lymphocyte subpopulations, in the morning after baseline sleep, partial sleep deprivation (awake from 11 pm to 3:00 am), and recovery sleep.

The awareness of chronic fatigue syndrome: a comparative study in Brazil and the United Kingdom.

Objective: While in many Western affluent countries there is widespread awareness of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), little is known about the awareness of CFS/ME in low- and middle-income countries. We compared the awareness of CFS in Brazil and the United Kingdom.

Methods: Recognition and knowledge of CFS were assessed among 120 Brazilian specialist doctors in two major university hospitals using a typical case vignette of CFS.

Cross-cultural validation of the Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire in Brazilian primary care.

Objective: The Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire (CFQ) is an instrument used to measure physical and mental fatigue. We translated and adapted the questionnaire and tested its reliability and validity in a Brazilian primary care setting.

Method: A pilot study with 204 consecutive primary care attenders in Sao Paulo, Brazil, verified the internal consistency and factor structure of the questionnaire.