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Query: UNIPROT:O75628 (REM)
 5,581 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Recurrent brief depression (RBD) has recently been proposed as a new subtype of affective disorder characterized by episodes of major depression which last less than two weeks. The aim of this study was to further evaluate the validity of this putative subtype by means of clinical and biological data. DST, TSH response to TRH and sleep EEG variables were compared in 25 RBD patients sex- and age-matched to 25 major depressed (MD) and 25 healthy subjects. Family history, age at onset, and psychiatric comorbidity did not discriminate RBD from MD. Recurrent unipolar depression was found to be more prevalent in MD. Although less severely depressed during the biological tests, patients with RBD did not significantly differ from those with MDD on basis of DST non-suppression, blunted TSH response and shortening of REM latency. Compared to controls, a greater sleep onset latency was observed both in RBD and MD and a lower total sleep time in MD patients only. These results suggest that RBD could be viewed as a subtype of affective disorder sharing many characteristics with MDD.
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PMID:Biological and clinical features of recurrent brief depression: a comparison with major depressed and healthy subjects. 147 36

In order to assess the predictive value of somatic and biological factors in antidepressant trials, non specific parameters, i.e. natural course of illness, life events, placebo effect ... have to be controlled by means of studies vs placebo. Among somatic factors, retardation seems to predict a positive response to antidepressants. The predictive value of other endogenous signs--like insomnia or weight loss--is still questioned. Few biochemical parameters appear relevant when metabolites of central monoamines, their precursors and the enzymatic processes involved are considered. The serotoninergic system is the focus of many studies. Among the neuroendocrine indices, the DST proved too poorly specific of depression. Among the physiological parameters, some characteristics of sleep EEG, like a shortening of REM latency, seem promising. Pharmacological challenges, for instance response to stimulant drugs, gave inconsistent results and should be discussed on ethical grounds. Many studies have been undertaken but presently no routine reliable biological index is available to predict a response to antidepressants.
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PMID:[Somatic and biological factors predicting a response to antidepressive agents]. 180 63

The state of knowledge in the area of suggested biological markers that may delineate subpopulations of patients with borderline personality disorders (BPD) is reviewed. There is widespread disagreement as to the specificity of these markers. The clinical implications of Axis I--Axis II, state vs. trait, acute vs. chronic, and definite vs. probable diagnoses, all seem to contribute to the confusion in this area. Some patients with BPD and with schizotypal personality disorders (SPD) share neuroendocrine abnormalities with affective disorders (AD) and schizophrenic (SCH) patients respectively. This interface and/or potential overlap between personality disorders (PD) and the major mental disorders is discussed with special reference to the DST, TRH/TSH test, and REM latency which have already been established as valuable biological markers for certain subtypes of depression. In contrast, biologic abnormalities observed in chronic schizophrenia are also present in some SPD patients. Current data are supportive of the hypothesis that some PD patients are independent whereas others are genetically related to the major mental disorders.
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PMID:Biological markers in borderline personality disorders: an overview. 313 5

The effects of four subtypes of major depressive disorder on four sleep EEG variables obtained in 153 depressed inpatients were analyzed taking into account the effects of age, gender, DST response and severity of depression. We have found that age significantly affected slow wave sleep. Sleep efficiency and total sleep time were shown to vary with age and severity of depression. Such effects were not detected for REM latency which was influenced by the endogenous subtype and the gender. Our data indicate that in depressed patients sleep EEG measures are influenced by multiple factors.
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PMID:Multivariate study of sleep EEG in depression. 338 84

The overlap between REM sleep latency and DST response was investigated in a group of 117 mildly depressed outpatients. No significant correlation between these two biological markers could be evidenced. The MMPI profile of the DST suppressors was clearly different from the non-suppressors' profile indicating a more severe clinical condition at that moment. REM sleep latency did not contribute to the psychological and clinical subtyping of this depressive sample.
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PMID:Psychological correlates of the dexamethasone suppression test response and of the shortened REM sleep latency in depressed outpatients. 367 32

EEG sleep recordings and two provocative neuroendocrinological tests (the DST and the GH stimulation test after desipramine) were investigated in two depressed pubertal monozygotic twin boys with Major Depressive Disorder and compared with results from one normal pubertal control boy and an adolescent girl suffering from major depression. REM latency was reduced in the adolescent depressed girl but not in the pubertal depressed twin children when compared to the normal control. Sleep continuity and sleep architecture were, however, disturbed in pubertal and adolescent depression as a function of severity of the depressive state. The results of the DST showed abnormal cortisol values in the most severely depressed twin and in the depressed adolescent. GH secretion after DMI showed a clear GH response in the less depressed twin and in the normal subject while in the depressed adolescent, the GH response was blunted. The findings suggest that REM latency disturbances in our depressed patients do not appear before adolescence, while neuroendocrine dysfunction can already be present in pubertal depression.
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PMID:Electroencephalogram and neuroendocrine parameters in pubertal and adolescent depressed children. A case report study. 623 57

Since DST non-suppression and sleep abnormalities have been shown to co-exist in depressive states, it seems important to examine what effects dexamethasone administration might have on the sleep of depressed patients. Therefore, the effects of 1 mg dexamethasone p.o. administered at 11 p.m. to a group of 12 depressed outpatients was examined. In this series of patients, the hypothesis of no significant changes in sleep continuity, sleep architecture or REM sleep features was confirmed aside from an increase in Stage 2 sleep percent and decrease in Stage 1 REM percent in these patients (both variables stayed in the normal range). It can be concluded that acute administration of dexamethasone does not influence the sleep of depressed patients in a major way.
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PMID:The effects of dexamethasone administration on EEG sleep in depressed patients. 623 72

Distinctions among affective disorders are reviewed in the light of dexamethasone non-suppression (DST) and shortened REM latency. Against the background of clinical, genetic and pharmacological information, such procedures may help to clarify biological continuities and discontinuities which need to be incorporated into the classification of affective disorders, and their differentiation from border conditions. Normal loss reactions, anxiety and dysphoric states are distinguishable from primary depression on the basis of REM latency. The melancholias, which tend in addition to be DST positive, are set apart from other primary depressions. Psychotic unipolar and bipolar depressions are classed under melancholia, because they tend to be most deviant in terms of cortisol non-suppression. Yet the fact that REM latency is abbreviated in most primary depressions, irrespective of the presence of melancholic features, argues for combining the two groups within a single class. These considerations suggest that the distinctions among affective subtypes are both categorical and dimensional.
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PMID:Diagnosis and classification of affective disorders: new insights from clinical and laboratory approaches. 637 97

The DST and TRH stimulation test (TRHST) were administered to 68 depressed in- and outpatients; 28 subjects also received 2 nights of sleep EEG. Results indicated that (1) the TRHST differentiated RDC endogenous from nonendogenous unipolar subtypes at the 5 but not the 7 IuU/ml threshold, (2) neither order nor timing of DST and TRHST testing affected TRHST response, (3) the TRHST detected subjects not identified by the DST, and (4) REM latency detected some patients (23%) not identified by either the TRHST or DST.
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PMID:Relationships among the TRH, REM latency, and dexamethasone suppression tests: preliminary findings. 640 92

Numerous biologic measures are in the process of being developed for clinical use in psychiatry. It was the aim of this review to focus primarily on the practical usefulness of the DST and REM latency tests, the two most extensively researched of these new techniques. We believe that the emerging laboratory technology, if interpreted in the context of clinical findings, may assist in differential diagnostic decisions on difficult boundary issues surrounding affective disorders. As with other tests in medicine, to expect pathognomonic performance from the emerging laboratory technology in psychiatry would be unrealistic. No doubt, increasing knowledge will somewhat dampen the initial enthusiasm with which the DST and REM latency tests were accepted by many researchers and clinicians. On the other hand it is useful to remind skeptics that these tests have already made an impact on psychiatric ideology, research, and clinical practice, and appear to be with use to stay.
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PMID:Clinical, neuroendocrine, and sleep EEG diagnosis of "unusual" affective presentations: a practical review. 641 18


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