Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In this study, we have measured the following biological variables in 78 depressed inpatients: adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) responses to corticotropin releasing factor (CRH: 100 micrograms intravenously), postdexamethasone cortisol and ACTH values, and circulating concentrations of L-tryptophan (L-TRP). Patients were categorized according to the DMS-III as (1) minor depression, (2) simple major depression, and (3) major depression with melancholia/psychotic features. By means of various pattern recognition methods, we determined whether these diagnostic groups constitute discrete biological classes or form relevant stages (i.e., continuous categories) in a continuum of progressing biological dysfunction. We established that unipolar depression constitutes one biological continuum characterized by a progression of lower CRH-induced ACTH responses, lower L-TRP levels, and higher postdexamethasone cortisol and ACTH values along the diagnostic spectrum. However, the biological differences in these markers between melancholia and minor depression are quantitatively prominent to the extent that they become qualitative. These findings support the biological heterogeneity hypothesis of melancholia. Simple major depression is a heterogeneous class with regard to the biological markers employed.
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PMID:Biological heterogeneity of melancholia: results of pattern recognition methods. 165 16

The relationship between bipolar disorder and chromosome 11 markers remains uncertain. Whilst re-analysis of the Amish pedigree weakened previous evidence for close linkage (but could not exclude the possibility of genetic heterogeneity), a recent French study has found a significant association between this condition and tyrosine hydroxylase polymorphisms. We aimed to determine if bipolar disorder in two large Australian pedigrees (of Irish and English extraction respectively) was linked to these markers. Of the 84 family members available for testing, nine were diagnosed as bipolar I, one as bipolar II and six had recurrent unipolar depression. Linkage of bipolar disorder and recurrent depression to the chromosome 11p15 markers c-Harvey ras, insulin and tyrosine hydroxylase was tested using a series of genetic models with varying penetrance levels. Additionally, linkage was examined using a series of levels of definitions of affective status (ranging from bipolar I alone to all affective illnesses). Close linkage to these markers was strongly excluded using each model and definition. The findings also persisted when a wide range of rates of 'sporadic' (non-genetic) presentations of illness were incorporated in the analysis. These results are consistent with other recent studies indicating that bipolar disorder is not linked to chromosomal region 11p15.
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PMID:Close linkage of bipolar disorder to chromosome 11 markers is excluded in two large Australian pedigrees. 167 74

In subtypes of schizophrenia and unipolar depression, both increased and decreased levels of platelet serotonin were found. Hyperserotonemia was usually observed in patients with psychotic features (i.e., in paranoid schizophrenia and psychotic depression). Hyposerotonemia, although less common than hyperserotonemia, was present in nonparanoid schizophrenia and nonpsychotic depression (i.e., in patients without psychotic symptoms). A sex difference in platelet monoamine oxidase activity was observed among healthy subjects, but not among schizophrenic patients. The activity of platelet monoamine oxidase in paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenic patients did not differ from that in healthy subjects. The findings in this study suggest that biological differences between subtypes of unipolar depression or schizophrenia might depend upon the presence of psychotic symptoms.
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PMID:Platelet serotonin in subtypes of schizophrenia and unipolar depression. 175 25

The effect of stressful events on depression has been amply demonstrated, but the opposite relation is also important. I examined event occurrence over 1 year in 14 women with unipolar depression who were compared with demographically matched groups of women with bipolar disorder (n = 11), chronic medical illness (n = 13), or no illness or disorder (n = 22). Interview assessments of life events, severity, and independence of occurrence confirmed the hypothesis that unipolar women were exposed to more stress than the normal women, had significantly more interpersonal event stress than all others, and tended to have more dependent events than the others. The implication is that unipolar women by their symptoms, behaviors, characteristics, and social context generate stressful conditions, primarily interpersonal, that have the potential for contributing to the cycle of symptoms and stress that create chronic or intermittent depression.
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PMID:Generation of stress in the course of unipolar depression. 175 69

1. Azapirones, selective partial agonists at the 5-HT1A receptor subtype, induce hypothermia and corticotropin (ACTH)/cortisol release as specific functional correlates of central 5-HT1A receptor activation. 2. Compared to controls, hypothermic and ACTH/cortisol responses to the azapirone ipsapirone are attenuated in patients with unipolar depression and panic disorder but not in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The impaired thermic and neuroendocrine responses are associated with increased basal cortisol secretion in depressed patients but not in patients with panic disorder. 3. Chronic treatment with the selective 5-HT reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine decreases 5-HT1A receptor-mediated responses in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, while long-term treatment with the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline further decreases hypothermia following ipsapirone but has no effect on ACTH/cortisol release. 4. Alteration of the 5-HT1A receptor and/or its signal transduction pathways may play a role in the pathophysiology and treatment of anxiety disorders and depression.
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PMID:5-HT1A receptor responsivity in anxiety disorders and depression. 176 90

Platelet 5-HT levels and scores on the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRS) were studied in patients with unipolar depression before and after antidepressant treatment. Before treatment there were no differences in platelet 5-HT values or in HRS scores between patients who showed a good and a poor therapeutic response. Repeated administration of 5-HT uptake inhibitors (amitriptyline, clovoxamine, fluvoxamine) for 28 days markedly decreased platelet 5-HT levels. Chronic treatment with trazodone or maprotiline (weak inhibitors of platelet 5-HT uptake) produced no changes in platelet 5-HT levels. No significant correlation was observed between platelet 5-HT concentrations and the HRS scores before or during treatment. The findings suggest that the changes in platelet 5-HT levels after antidepressant treatment are mainly due to the effects of antidepressants on the 5-HT uptake system.
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PMID:Effect of antidepressant treatment on platelet 5-HT content and relation to therapeutic outcome in unipolar depressive patients. 177 31

We evaluated positron emission tomography (PET) in the differential diagnosis of depression and Alzheimer's disease. The local cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (LCMRGlc) in the parahippocampal gyrus-hippocampus and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were determined. The ratio of the LCMRGlc in those two regions was examined in patients with unipolar depression, bipolar depression, and Alzheimer's dementia. An analysis of variance revealed significant overall intergroup differences in values for both hemispheres. Student's t test showed significant differences in LCMRGlc for both unipolar and bipolar depression as compared with Alzheimer's dementia. These data indicate that PET may be useful in the differential diagnosis of dementia vs. depression.
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PMID:Changes in glucose metabolism in dementia of the Alzheimer type compared with depression: a preliminary report. 178 Mar 92

A multi-center study on seasonal affective disorder (SAD) was conducted from the autumn of 1988 to the spring of 1989 with the cooperation of 16 facilities in Japan. Forty-six SAD patients were identified among 1104 respondents to our advertisements in mass media, or patients seen at the outpatient clinics. Essentially similar findings to other previous reports were obtained in terms of onset age of the first episode, duration of episode, high proportion of depression in first-degree relatives and atypical vegetative symptoms. However, a nearly equal sex ratio, together with a high proportion of unipolar depression, is characteristic of the present study. Increased appetite and carbohydrate craving were predominant only in female patients, whereas hypersomnia was prominent in both sexes. Effective response to light therapy was found in 17 SAD patients. However, a controlled study on a large number of patients is required to allow final conclusions on the efficacy of light therapy in Japanese SAD patients.
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PMID:Multi-center study of seasonal affective disorders in Japan. A preliminary report. 182 77

A review of research articles published in nine journals over a 2-year period was conducted to determine how critical changes in the clinical course of depressive disorder are defined in the research literature. These change points, labeled by terms such as response, recovery, and relapse, are critical for evaluation and communication of study results. The review focused on studies of unipolar depression that used a criterion-based diagnostic system and involved some form of therapeutic maneuver. The review showed significant inconsistency in the labeling and definition of change points and indicated the need for more precise conceptual definitions and operational criteria to enhance comparison, generalization, and application of results from clinical studies of depression.
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PMID:The definition and operational criteria for treatment outcome of major depressive disorder. A review of the current research literature. 192 69

The sleep of thirty elderly patients with recurrent unipolar depression was examined at baseline (before acute treatment of the index episode) and again in a state of symptomatic remission with nortriptyline (mean steady-state level: 82.1 ng/ml). Continuation therapy with nortriptyline was associated with improvement of polysomnographic sleep maintenance (mainly in the third and fourth sleep cycles, to a level similar to that of controls), prolongation of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep latency (exceeding that of controls), and potentiation of slow-wave activity during the first non-REM (NREM) sleep period. Clinical improvement, as measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, was significantly associated with shift of delta activity toward sleep onset (p less than 0.002), prolongation of REM sleep latency (p less than 0.0001), and improvement in sleep maintenance (p less than 0.0002). Multiple regression analysis showed that the single best correlate of clinical change was prolongation of REM sleep latency (i.e., prolongation of first NREM period). Perceived sleep quality improved significantly during early continuation therapy with nortriptyline, but not to the level reported by a group of 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The findings are consistent with the concept that anti-depressant drug efficacy may depend upon strengthening of the homeostatic regulation of sleep and upon changes in the REM-sleep regulation.
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PMID:Sleep in late-life recurrent depression. Changes during early continuation therapy with nortriptyline. 193 Jun 17


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