Clinical efficacy and safety of vortioxetine as an adjuvant drug for patients with bipolar depression.

Objectives: Whether vortioxetine has a utility as an adjuvant drug in the treatment of bipolar depression remains controversial. This study aimed to validate the efficacy and safety of vortioxetine in bipolar depression.

Methods: Patients with bipolar Ⅱ depression were enrolled in this prospective, two-center, randomized, 12-week pilot trial.

Advance and Application of Single-cell Transcriptomics in Auditory Research.

Hearing loss and deafness, as a worldwide disability disease, have been troubling human beings. However, the auditory organ of the inner ear is highly heterogeneous and has a very limited number of cells, which are largely uncharacterized in depth. Recently, with the development and utilization of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), researchers have been able to unveil the complex and sophisticated biological mechanisms of various types of cells in the auditory organ at the single-cell level and address the challenges of cellular heterogeneity that are not resolved through by conventional bulk RNA sequencing (bulk RNA-seq).

The Chinese Version of Oxford Depression Questionnaire: A Validation Study in Patients with Mood Disorders.

Background: Emotional blunting is prevalent in patients with mood disorders and adversely affects the overall treatment outcome. The Oxford Depression Questionnaire is a validated psychometric instrument for assessing emotional blunting. We aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the ODQ (ODQ) in Chinese patients with mood disorders.

Sex difference in prebiotics on gut and blood-brain barrier dysfunction underlying stress-induced anxiety and depression.

Background: Most of the previous studies have demonstrated the potential antidepressive and anxiolytic role of prebiotic supplement in male subjects, yet few have females enrolled. Herein, we explored whether prebiotics administration during chronic stress prevented depression-like and anxiety-like behavior in a sex-specific manner and the mechanism of behavioral differences caused by sex.

Methods: Female and male C57 BL/J mice on normal diet were supplemented with or without a combination of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) during 3- and 4-week chronic restraint stress (CRS) treatment, respectively.

G protein-coupled receptors in cochlea: Potential therapeutic targets for hearing loss.

The prevalence of hearing loss-related diseases caused by different factors is increasing worldwide year by year. Currently, however, the patient's hearing loss has not been effectively improved. Therefore, there is an urgent need to adopt new treatment measures and treatment techniques to help improve the therapeutic effect of hearing loss.

Multi-omics analyses of serum metabolome, gut microbiome and brain function reveal dysregulated microbiota-gut-brain axis in bipolar depression.

The intricate processes of microbiota-gut-brain communication in modulating human cognition and emotion, especially in the context of mood disorders, have remained elusive. Here we performed faecal metagenomic, serum metabolomics and neuroimaging studies on a cohort of 109 unmedicated patients with depressed bipolar disorder (BD) patients and 40 healthy controls (HCs) to characterise the microbial-gut-brain axis in BD. Across over 12,000 measured metabolic features, we observed a large discrepancy (73.

Metformin acts on the gut-brain axis to ameliorate antipsychotic-induced metabolic dysfunction.

Antipsychotic-induced metabolic dysfunction (AIMD) is an intractable clinical challenge worldwide. The situation is becoming more critical as second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs), to a great extent, have replaced the role of first-generation antipsychotics in managing major psychiatric disorders. Although the exact mechanisms for developing AIMD is intricate, emerging evidence has indicated the involvement of the microbiota-gut-brain axis in AIMD.

Involvement of Kynurenine Metabolism in Bipolar Disorder: An Updated Review.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe affective disorder, mainly characterized by alternative depressive and manic or hypomanic episodes, yet the pathogenesis of BD has not been fully elucidated. Recent researches have implicated the altered kynurenine (KYN) metabolism involved in the neurobiology of BD. Excessive activation of the immune system also occurs in patients with BD, which further accelerates the KYN pathway for tryptophan metabolism.

Impaired blood-brain barrier in the microbiota-gut-brain axis: Potential role of bipolar susceptibility gene TRANK1.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common psychiatric illness with high prevalence and disease burden. Accumulating susceptibility genes for BD have been identified in recent years. However, the exact functions of these genes remain largely unknown.

Short-chain fatty acid butyrate: A novel shield against chronic gastric ulcer.

Butyrate is one of the most abundant short-chain fatty acids produced by intestinal bacteria. In the present study, the action of butyrate on chronic gastric mucosa lesions was investigated, as well as its underlying mechanism in mice. Male mice from the Institute of Cancer Research were randomly divided into three groups: Sham, model and butyrate groups.

Serum D-dimer as a diagnostic index of PJI and retrospective analysis of etiology in patients with PJI.

Objectives: To investigate the diagnostic value of serum D-dimer in patients with periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). Moreover, to provide evidence for the treatment of PJI by investigating distribution of pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance situation among the patients.

Methods: A retrospective study of the medical records of all patients undergoing arthroplasty from the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from 2014 to 2018, 40 patients with periprosthetic joint infection, 37 patients with aseptic loosening and 59 patients with extra-articular infection were selected.

Changes of serum interleukin-6 in healthy pregnant women and establishment of relevant reference intervals.

Objective: To explore the changes of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in healthy pregnant women and establish reference intervals (RIs).

Method: According to the requirements for the RIs study model and the reference population screening criteria in C28-A3 document, Serum IL-6 levels were measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay in 480 healthy Chinese women, including 120 pregnant women in each of the first, second and third trimester and 120 non-pregnant women as the negative control. The establishment of RIs for IL-6 were defined using nonparametric percentile.

Identification of multidrug-resistant isolates with combined resistance to both ceftriaxone and azithromycin, China, 2017-2018.

The growing multidrug-resistant is a serious global threat to gonococcal therapy. During 2017-2018, we identified a rare multidrug-resistant (ceftriaxone and azithromycin) strain (GC250) and four strains (GC185, GC195, GC196 and GC249) with both resistance to ceftriaxone and decreased susceptibility to azithromycin. All strains belonged to NG-STAR ST1143, including the mosaic -60.

The hepatoprotective effect of the probiotic Clostridium butyricum against carbon tetrachloride-induced acute liver damage in mice.

Previous studies have revealed that the probiotic Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum) can attenuate cirrhosis in chronic non-alcoholic liver disease. However, the effects of C.