Personality traits and escitalopram treatment outcome in major depression.

Background: Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI) have proven to be effective in treatment of depression. Still, treatment efficacy varies significantly from patient to patient and about 40% of patients do not respond to initial treatment. Personality traits have been considered one source of variability in treatment outcome.

Whole-genome expression analysis reveals genes associated with treatment response to escitalopram in major depression.

The reasons for variability in treatment response in major depressive disorder (MDD) are not fully understood, but there is accumulating evidence suggesting that therapeutic outcomes of antidepressants can be influenced by genetic factors. In the present study we applied the microarray Illumina platform for whole genome expression profiling in depressive patients treated with escitalopram medication in order to identify genes underlying response to antidepressant treatment. The initial study sample consisted of 135 outpatients with major depressive disorder (mean age 31.

Polymorphisms of IKBKE gene are associated with major depressive disorder and panic disorder.

Background: The immune system has been increasingly implicated in the development of mood and anxiety disorders. Inhibitor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B cells, kinase epsilon (IKBKE) gene encodes IKKε protein that is involved in innate immunity, predominantly antiviral response generation. It also bears pro-inflammatory properties that could affect psychiatric outcomes.

Whole-exome sequencing identifies a polymorphism in the BMP5 gene associated with SSRI treatment response in major depression.

Although antidepressants are widely used in the pharmacotherapy of major depressive disorder (MDD), their efficacy is still insufficient as approximately one-third of the patients do not fully recover even after several treatment trials. Inter-individual genetic differences are thought to contribute to the variability in antidepressant response; however, current findings from pharmacogenetic studies are uncertain or not clearly replicated. Here we report the first application of full exome sequencing for the analysis of pharmacogenomics on antidepressant treatment.

Soluble interleukin-2 receptor and tumor necrosis factor levels in depressed patients in Estonia.

Several studies have reported immune system alterations in depressed patients. Furthermore, correlations between some interleukins and specific depressive symptoms have been found, but results are ambiguous. It might be caused by heterogeneous patient population and concomitant administration of antidepressants.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS): Pathophysiology in Estonians.

The aim of the study was to clarify the roles of age, obesity, smoking, alcohol, pathoanatomy and -physiology in Estonian's OSAS. For this 164 randomly chosen such patients were selected in different regions of Estonia. They underwent naso-oropharyngeal examination, physical examination of craniofacial abnormalities, and polysomnography.

Thyroid autoimmunity and treatment response to escitalopram in major depression.

Background: There is evidence that immune alterations play an important part in the pathogenesis of major depression. Thyroid autoimmunity has been found in association with major depression in several studies.

Aim: 1) to examine whether the prevalence of anti-thyroid peroxidase autoantibodies (anti-TPO) in depressive patients differs from that in healthy controls; 2) to investigate the possible relationship between thyroid autoimmunity, total T3, free T3, free T4, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), clinical status and treatment outcome in depression.

Interleukin 10 family gene polymorphisms are not associated with major depressive disorder and panic disorder phenotypes.

Genetic regulation of immune system and inflammatory response may be related to the pathogenesis and manifestations of mood and anxiety disorders. In the present study we examined a range of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in chromosomal region 1q32, the locus of interleukin 10 (IL10) gene, in patients with major depressive disorder (n=312) and panic disorder (n=210), and matched healthy controls (n=356). We found no significant associations of the SNPs in IL10 family genes with either diagnostic group.

The role of IL-2 and soluble IL-2R in depression and antidepressant response.

Cytokines are widely studied in the context of the pathogenesis and treatment of major depression. This review focuses on the potential importance of IL-2 and soluble IL-2R in major depression, as well as on their role in the mediation of the effects of antidepressant treatment. In general, there has been no consistent pattern in the associations observed between cytokine concentration, or changes thereof, and clinical indices of major depression.

Serotonin transporter promoter region polymorphisms do not influence treatment response to escitalopram in patients with major depression.

Several studies and meta-analyses have implicated a polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene, 5-HTTLPR in treatment outcomes of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors in patients with major depression. In this study we investigated the impact of 5-HTTLPR and a functional SNP rs25531 on the treatment outcomes to escitalopram in depressive patients. The study sample consisted of 135 outpatients with major depressive disorder (mean age 31.

Polymorphisms in the interleukin-10 gene cluster are possibly involved in the increased risk for major depressive disorder.

Background: Innate immune inflammatory response is suggested to have a role in the pathogenesis of major depressive disorder (MDD). Interleukin (IL)-10 family cytokines IL-10, IL-19, IL-20, and IL-24 are all implicated in the inflammatory processes and polymorphisms in respective genes have been associated with various immunopathological conditions. This study was carried out to investigate whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in these genes are also associated with MDD.

Pro-inflammatory cytokines and treatment response to escitalopram in major depressive disorder.

Alterations in the immune system may have importance for the pathophysiology of depression. Several studies have linked increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines to depression and depressive symptoms. There is growing evidence that antidepressive treatment may influence the production of pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines.

Symptoms of anxiety and depression in Estonian medical students with sleep problems.

High emotional stress in medical students has been observed in many studies. Our aim in this article was to assess the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression among Estonian medical students and to find relationships between sleep complaints and emotional symptoms. The study group consisted of 413 medical students, ages 19-33 years, at the University of Tartu.