Depressive-Like Effects of Foreclosing: A Cross-Sectional Study of Hair Cortisol Concentration.

Introduction: Foreclosing and home eviction have been associated with various negative health outcomes, probably due to exposure to such stressful circumstance, but there is no evidence about foreclosure and home eviction to elicit cortisol responses.

Methods: Participants who recently had received a court eviction notice were compared to subjects suffering a depressive disorder and to healthy controls in terms of hair cortisol concentrations.

Results: Subjects under the stressful circumstance of foreclosure and patients with depression showed comparable concentrations in most of the hair segments while healthy subjects displayed the lowest levels of cortisol.

Association study of polymorphisms within inflammatory genes and methylation status in treatment response in major depression.

Background: Although pharmacogenetics for major depressive disorder (MDD) is gaining momentum, the role of genetics in differences in response to antidepressant treatment is controversial, as they depend on multifactorial and polygenic phenotypes. Previous studies focused on the genes of the serotonergic system, leaving apart other pathological factors such as the inflammatory pathway. The main objective of the study was to assess whether treatment response might be associated with specific inflammation-related genetic variants or their methylation status.