Effects of pregnancy and delivery on serum prolyl endopeptidase (PEP) activity: alterations in serum PEP are related to increased anxiety in the early puerperium and to postpartum depression.

Background: There is now some evidence that anxiety or anxiety disorders are related to increased activity of serum prolyl endopeptidase (PEP) and that major depression is related to lower serum PEP. The aims of the present study were to examine (i) the effects of pregnancy and delivery on serum PEP and (ii) the relationships between serum PEP and postpartum depression, anxiety in the early puerperium and a past history of depression.

Methods: Serum PEP activity was measured in 11 healthy nonpregnant and in 98 pregnant women 3 days before delivery and 1 and 3 days after delivery.

Effects of pregnancy and delivery on serum concentrations of Clara Cell Protein (CC16), an endogenous anticytokine: lower serum CC16 is related to postpartum depression.

There is now some evidence that lower serum concentrations of Clara Cell Protein (CC16) are related to stress-induced anxiety, psychoses and major depression. This study was developed to determine whether serum CC16 is lowered in the early puerperium and whether Postnatal Depression and Postnatal Blues are associated with lower levels of serum CC16. Serum concentrations of CC16 were assayed in 17 non-pregnant women and in 98 pregnant women before delivery and 1 and 3 days after delivery.

Changes in platelet alpha-2-adrenoceptors in fibromyalgia: effects of treatment with antidepressants.

The aim of this study was to determine platelet alpha(2)-adrenergic receptor (alpha(2)-AR) binding sites in fibromyalgia both before and after treatment with sertraline or placebo. The maximum number of binding sites (B(max)) and their affinity (K(d)) for [(3)H]rauwolscine, a selective alpha(2)-AR antagonist, were measured in 13 normal volunteers and 22 fibromyalgia patients. Severity of illness was evaluated by means of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and dolorimetric assessments of tenderness at tender points.

The immune-inflammatory pathophysiology of fibromyalgia: increased serum soluble gp130, the common signal transducer protein of various neurotrophic cytokines.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic, painful musculoskeletal disorder characterized by widespread pain, pressure hyperalgesia, morning stiffness and by an increased incidence of depressive symptoms. The etiology, however, has remained elusive. The aim of the present study was to examine the inflammatory response system (IRS) in fibromyalgia.

Pindolol and mianserin augment the antidepressant activity of fluoxetine in hospitalized major depressed patients, including those with treatment resistance.

The aims of this study were to examine whether pindolol, a serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT])-1A receptor antagonist, and mianserin, a 5-HT2A/C and alpha2-adrenoceptor (alpha2-AR) antagonist, may augment the clinical efficacy of fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and shorten the latency of onset of antidepressive activity in the treatment of major and treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Ten days after admission to the hospital, 31 major depressed patients were randomly assigned using a double-blind, controlled design to receive fluoxetine 20 mg daily, fluoxetine 20 mg daily plus pindolol 7.5 mg daily, or fluoxetine 20 mg plus mianserin 30 mg daily for 5 weeks.