Bridging animal models and humans: neuroimaging as intermediate phenotypes linking genetic or stress factors to anhedonia.

Background: Intermediate phenotypes, such as characteristic neuroimaging patterns, offer unique insights into the genetic and stress-related underpinnings of neuropsychiatric disorders like depression. This study aimed to identify neuroimaging intermediate phenotypes associated with depression, bridging etiological factors to behavioral manifestations and connecting insights from animal models to diverse clinical populations.

Methods: We analyzed datasets from both rodents and humans.

Gene-level analysis reveals the genetic aetiology and therapeutic targets of schizophrenia.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have reported multiple risk loci for schizophrenia (SCZ). However, the majority of the associations were from populations of European ancestry. Here we conducted a large-scale GWAS in Eastern Asian populations (29,519 cases and 44,392 controls) and identified ten Eastern Asian-specific risk loci, two of which have not been previously reported.

Correlation between polygenic risk scores of depression and cortical morphology networks.

Background: Cortical morphometry is an intermediate phenotype that is closely related to the genetics and onset of major depressive disorder (MDD), and cortical morphometric networks are considered more relevant to disease mechanisms than brain regions. We sought to investigate changes in cortical morphometric networks in MDD and their relationship with genetic risk in healthy controls.

Methods: We recruited healthy controls and patients with MDD of Han Chinese descent.

Association of evening chronotype, sleep quality and cognitive impairment in patients with major depressive disorder.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the independent or synergistic effects of evening chronotype and poor sleep quality on cognitive impairment in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 249 individuals diagnosed with MDD, recruited from the Mental Health Center of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University. Chronotype preference was assessed using the reduced Horne and Ostberg Morningness - Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ), while sleep quality was evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).

Developing an individual depression risk score based on traditional risk factors and routine biochemical markers.

Background: Early identification of individuals at high risk for depression is essential for effective implementation of interventions. This study utilized the UK Biobank database to construct an individual depression risk score using nomogram and explored the potential of traditional risk factors and routine biochemical markers for the auxiliary diagnosis of individual depression.

Methods: A total of 369,407 participants were included in the study and divided into training and testing sets.

Comprehensive analysis of psychological symptoms and quality of life in early patients with IBD: a multicenter study from China.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of psychological symptoms and quality of life (QoL) in early patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: From September 2021 to May 2022, a unified questionnaire was developed to collect clinical data from early patients with IBD from 42 tertiary care hospitals. The influencing factors of psychological symptoms and poor QoL are screened by logistic regression analysis for constructing model in predicting poor QoL.

In vivo evidence of increased vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with major depressive disorder.

Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a candidate mediator of blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption in depression. However, previous studies have mainly focused on peripheral blood VEGF levels, and the results are heterogeneous. Here we use astrocyte-derived extracellular vesicles (ADEVs) isolated from plasma to explore the in vivo changes of VEGF levels in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Neuromelanin-targeted 18 F-P3BZA PET/MR imaging of the substantia nigra in rhesus macaques.

Background: Neuromelanin is mostly located in dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) pars compacta, and can be detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It is a promising imaging-base biomarker for neurological diseases. We previously developed a melanin-specific probe N-(2-(diethylamino)-ethyl)-F-5-fluoropicolinamide (F-P3BZA), which was initially developed for the imaging of melanoma.

Using Data-Driven Algorithms with Large-Scale Plasma Proteomic Data to Discover Novel Biomarkers for Diagnosing Depression.

Given recent technological advances in proteomics, it is now possible to quantify plasma proteomes in large cohorts of patients to screen for biomarkers and to guide the early diagnosis and treatment of depression. Here we used CatBoost machine learning to model and discover biomarkers of depression in UK Biobank data sets (depression = 4,479, healthy control = 19,821). CatBoost was employed for model construction, with Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) being utilized to interpret the resulting model.

Executive function impairment is associated with low serum vitamin D levels in children with epilepsy.

Purpose: Executive function (EF) impairment and vitamin D deficiency are common clinical features among children with epilepsy (CWE). Recently, vitamin D has become a potential modification factor that affects cognitive status in individuals with neurological disorders. In this study, we investigated the association between EF status and vitamin D levels in patients with CWE.

Fluoxetin suppresses tau phosphorylation and modulates the interaction between tau and tubulin in the hippocampus of CUMS rats.

Depression is considered a crucial psychiatric disease correlated with neuronal-dysfunctions induced by stress-stimuli. This study aimed to investigate effect of Fluoxetine (FL) on chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) and explore the associated mechanisms. CUMS rat model was established by treating with lots of stresses.

Effects of autotaxin and lysophosphatidic acid deficiencies on depression-like behaviors in mice exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress.

The involvement of lipids in the mechanism of depression has triggered extensive discussions. Earlier studies have identified diminished levels of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and autotaxin (ATX) in individuals experiencing depression. However, the exact significance of this phenomenon in relation to depression remains inconclusive.

Common gastrointestinal symptoms and their impact on psychological state and quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a cross-sectional multicenter study in China.

Objective: To explore the impact of common gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms on psychological symptoms, sleep quality, and quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: A unified questionnaire was developed to collect clinical data on the mental psychology and quality of life of IBD patients from 42 hospitals in 22 provinces in P. R.

Environmental enrichment attenuates depressive-like behavior in maternal rats by inhibiting neuroinflammation and apoptosis and promoting neuroplasticity.

Gestational stress can exacerbate postpartum depression (PPD), for which treatment options remain limited. Environmental enrichment (EE) may be a therapeutic intervention for neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression, but the specific mechanisms by which EE might impact PPD remain unknown. Here we examined the behavioral, molecular, and cellular impact of EE in a stable PPD model in rats developed through maternal separation (MS).

Oligodendrocyte-derived exosomes-containing SIRT2 ameliorates depressive-like behaviors and restores hippocampal neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity via the AKT/GSK-3β pathway in depressed mice.

Aims: To investigate the antidepressant role of oligodendrocyte-derived exosomes (ODEXs)-containing sirtuin 2 (SIRT2) and the underlying mechanism both in vivo and in vitro.

Methods: Oligodendrocyte-derived exosomes isolated from mouse serum were administered to mice with chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced depression via the tail vein. The antidepressant effects of ODEXs were assessed through behavioral tests and quantification of alterations in hippocampal neuroplasticity.

Dysregulated cerebral blood flow, rather than gray matter Volume, exhibits stronger correlations with blood inflammatory and lipid markers in depression.

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) can be used to detect differences in perfusion for multiple brain regions thought to be important in major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the potential of cerebral blood flow (CBF) to predict MDD and its correlations between the blood lipid levels and immune markers, which are closely related to MDD and brain function change, remain unclear. The 451 individuals - 298 with MDD and 133 healthy controls who underwent MRI at a single time point with arterial spin labelling and a high resolution T1-weighted structural scan.

Distinct resting-state functional connectivity of the anterior cingulate cortex subregions in first-episode schizophrenia.

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a heterogeneous region of the brain's limbic system that regulates cognitive and emotional processing, and is frequently implicated in schizophrenia. This study aims to characterize resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) profiles of three subregions of ACC in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and healthy controls. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans were collected from 60 first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients and 60 healthy controls (HC), and the subgenual ACC (sgACC), pregenual ACC (pgACC), and dorsal ACC (dACC) were selected as seed regions from the newest automated anatomical labeling atlas 3 (AAL3).