Clinical Predictors of Mood Disorders and Prevalence of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

We aimed to determine the prevalence and clinical correlations of mood disorders in a sample of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. Hence, we hypothesized that the prevalence of mood disorders would be lower than reported in the literature and that patients would remain clinically stable and show less damage accrual despite low-dose corticosteroid prescription. In total, 92 SLE outpatients gave informed consent to participate in this cross-sectional study.

Ligand bias and inverse agonism on 5-HT receptor-mediated modulation of G protein activity in post-mortem human brain.

Background And Purpose: Whereas biased agonism on the 5-HT receptor has been ascribed to hallucinogenic properties of psychedelics, no information about biased inverse agonism on this receptor is available. In schizophrenia, increased 5-HT receptor constitutive activity has been suggested, highlighting the therapeutic relevance of inverse agonism. This study characterized the modulation of G protein activity promoted by different drugs, commonly considered as 5-HT receptor antagonists, in post-mortem human brain cortex.

Isolation and Differentiation of Neurons and Glial Cells from Olfactory Epithelium in Living Subjects.

The study of psychiatric and neurological diseases requires the substrate in which the disorders occur, that is, the nervous tissue. Currently, several types of human bio-specimens are being used for research, including postmortem brains, cerebrospinal fluid, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, and induced neuronal (iN) cells. However, these samples are far from providing a useful predictive, diagnostic, or prognostic biomarker.

Cannabis use selectively modulates circulating biomarkers in the blood of schizophrenia patients.

Cannabis use disorder is frequent in schizophrenia patients, and it is associated with an earlier age of onset and poor schizophrenia prognosis. Serotonin 2A receptors (5-HT2AR) have been involved in psychosis and, like Akt kinase, are known to be modulated by THC. Likewise, endocannabinoid system dysregulation has been suggested in schizophrenia.

High S100B Levels Predict Antidepressant Response in Patients With Major Depression Even When Considering Inflammatory and Metabolic Markers.

Background: The relationship between antidepressant response and glial, inflammatory, and metabolic markers is poorly understood in depression. This study assessed the ability of biological markers to predict antidepressant response in major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods: We included 31 MDD outpatients treated with escitalopram or sertraline for 8 consecutive weeks.

Pimavanserin exhibits serotonin 5-HT receptor inverse agonism for G- and neutral antagonism for G-proteins in human brain cortex.

Pimavanserin is claimed as the first antipsychotic drug that shows selectivity for serotonin 5-HT receptors (5-HTRs) and lacks of affinity for dopamine D receptors (DRs). Cell-based functional assays suggest that pimavanserin and antipsychotics with DR/5-HTR affinity could act as inverse agonists of 5-HTRs. However, there is not evidence of such pharmacological profile in native brain tissue.

Chronic fluoxetine reverses the effects of chronic corticosterone treatment on α-adrenoceptors in the rat frontal cortex but not locus coeruleus.

Disruption of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is an established finding in patients with anxiety and/or depression. Chronic corticosterone administration in animals has been proposed as a model for the study of these stress-related disorders and the antidepressant action. Alterations of the central noradrenergic system and specifically of inhibitory α-adrenoceptors seem to be part of the pathophysiology of depression and contribute to the antidepressant activity.

Effect of subchronic corticosterone administration on α-adrenoceptor functionality in rat brain: an in vivo and in vitro study.

Rationale: Noradrenergic system plays a critical role in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation and the stress response. A dysregulated HPA axis may be indicative of an increased biological vulnerability for depression. In addition, a variety of studies have focused on specific alterations of α-adrenoceptors as a mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of mood disorders and antidepressant response.

Additive effect of rimonabant and citalopram on extracellular serotonin levels monitored with in vivo microdialysis in rat brain.

Current pharmacological therapies for depression, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), are far from ideal. The cannabinoid system has been implicated in control of mood and neural processing of emotional information, and the modulation of serotonin (5-HT) release in the synaptic clefts. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether the combination of a selective SSRI (citalopram) with a selective cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist (rimonabant) represents a more effective strategy than the antidepressant alone to enhance serotonergic transmission.

Chronic pain leads to concomitant noradrenergic impairment and mood disorders.

Background: Patients suffering chronic pain are at high risk of suffering long-lasting emotional disturbances characterized by persistent low mood and anxiety. We propose that this might be the result of a functional impairment in noradrenergic circuits associated with locus coeruleus (LC) and prefrontal cortex, where emotional and sensorial pain processes overlap.

Methods: We used a chronic constriction injury of sciatic nerve as a model of neuropathic pain in male Sprague-Dawley rats to assess the time-dependent changes that might potentially precipitate mood disorders (2, 7, 14, and 28 days after injury).

Long lasting effects of early-life stress on glutamatergic/GABAergic circuitry in the rat hippocampus.

The objective of the present work was to study the effects of an early-life stress (maternal separation, MS) in the excitatory/inhibitory ratio as a potential factor contributing to the ageing process, and the purported normalizing effects of chronic treatment with the antidepressant venlafaxine. MS induced depressive-like behaviour in the Porsolt forced swimming test that was reversed by venlafaxine, and that persisted until senescence. Aged MS rats showed a downregulation of vesicular glutamate transporter 1 and 2 (VGlut1 and VGlut2) and GABA transporter (VGAT) and increased expression of excitatory amino acid transporter 2 (EAAT2) in the hippocampus.

The function of alpha-2-adrenoceptors in the rat locus coeruleus is preserved in the chronic constriction injury model of neuropathic pain.

Rationale: Peripheral neuropathic pain is a chronic condition that may produce plastic changes in several brain regions. The noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC) is a crucial component of ascending and descending pain pathways, both of which are frequently compromised after nerve injury.

Objectives: The objective of the study was to examine whether chronic constriction injury (CCI), a model of neuropathic pain, alters noradrenergic activity in the rat LC.