{"title":"A multicenter, randomized controlled study on the efficacy of agomelatine in ameliorating anhedonia, reduced motivation, and circadian rhythm disruptions in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).","authors":"Ping Guo, Yong Xu, Liang Lv, Min Feng, Yu Fang, Wei-Quan Huang, Shan-Fei Cheng, Min-Cai Qian, Shengliang Yang, Shi-Kai Wang, Huan-Xin Chen","doi":"10.1186/s12991-023-00473-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12991-023-00473-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of Agomelatine in improving symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), providing more scientific evidence for the treatment of depression, and offering more effective therapeutic options for patients.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 180 MDD patients in acute phase from 10 psychiatric hospitals of Grade three in Zhejiang Province were enrolled in this 12-week study with the competitive and consecutive pattern, and they were randomized into two different groups treated with flexible-dosage antidepressants of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) or agomelatine, respectively. The subjects were evaluated with psychological scales of HAMD<sub>-17</sub>, HAMA, SHAPS for anhedonia, MFI-20 for fatigue, PQSI for sleep quality and MEQ for disturbances in chronobiologic rhythms at baseline, 2, 4, 8 and 12-weekend points, and TESS was used for side-effect. The results were analyzed with repeated measurement analysis of variance.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The two groups each had 90 participants, and there were no significant differences at baseline. The scores of various assessment scales showed statistically significant time main effects during the visits (P < 0.01). The Agomelatine group demonstrated faster efficacy within 2 weeks, with better improvement in SHAPS, MEQ, and PSQI compared to the SSRIs group. However, the remission rate at 12 weeks was lower in the Agomelatine group than in the SSRIs group (63.3% and 72.2%), but the difference between the groups was not statistically significant. The Agomelatine group had fewer adverse reactions (14.4% and 16.7%), but there was a slightly higher incidence of liver function impairment (6.7% and 4.4%), with no statistically significant difference between the groups.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Agomelatine, as a novel antidepressant, shows certain advantages in improving depression and anxiety symptoms and is comparable to SSRIs in terms of safety. However, its long-term efficacy and safety on MDD or other depressive subtypes still require further observation and research.</p>","PeriodicalId":7942,"journal":{"name":"Annals of General Psychiatry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10642047/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"92152355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
David Hough, Alice R Mao, Michael Aman, Reymundo Lozano, Constance Smith-Hicks, Veronica Martinez-Cerdeno, Michael Derby, Zachary Rome, Niel Malan, Robert L Findling
{"title":"Randomized clinical trial of low dose suramin intravenous infusions for treatment of autism spectrum disorder.","authors":"David Hough, Alice R Mao, Michael Aman, Reymundo Lozano, Constance Smith-Hicks, Veronica Martinez-Cerdeno, Michael Derby, Zachary Rome, Niel Malan, Robert L Findling","doi":"10.1186/s12991-023-00477-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12991-023-00477-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>There is a critical need for effective treatment of the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purinergic antagonist suramin may improve core symptoms through restoration of normal mitochondrial function and reduction of neuro-inflammation via its known antagonism of P2X and P2Y receptors. Nonclinical studies in fragile X knockout mice and the maternal immune activation model support these hypotheses.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a 14 week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled proof -of-concept study (N = 52) to test the efficacy and safety of suramin intravenous infusions in boys aged 4-15 years with moderate to severe ASD. The study had 3 treatment arms: 10 mg/kg suramin, 20 mg/kg suramin, and placebo given at baseline, week 4, and week 8. The Aberrant Behavior Checklist of Core Symptoms (ABC-Core) (subscales 2, 3, and 5) was the primary endpoint and the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement (CGI-I) was a secondary endpoint.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Forty-four subjects completed the study. The 10 mg/kg suramin group showed a greater, but statistically non-significant, numeric improvement (- 12.5 ± 3.18 [mean ± SE]) vs. placebo (- 8.9 ± 2.86) in ABC-Core at Week 14. The 20 mg/kg suramin group did not show improvement over placebo. In exploratory analyses, the 10 mg/kg arm showed greater ABC Core differences from placebo in younger subjects and among those with less severe symptoms. In CGI-I, the 10 mg/kg arm showed a statistically significant improvement from baseline (2.8 ± 0.30 [mean ± SE]) compared to placebo (1.7 ± 0.27) (p = 0.016). The 20 mg/kg arm had a 2.0 ± 0.28 improvement in CGI-I, which was not statistically significant compared to placebo (p = 0.65).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Suramin was generally safe and well tolerated over 14 weeks; most adverse events were mild to moderate in severity. Trial Registration Registered with the South African Health Authority, registration number DOH-27-0419-6116.</p><p><strong>Clinicaltrials: </strong>Gov registration ID is NCT06058962, last update posted 2023-09-28.</p>","PeriodicalId":7942,"journal":{"name":"Annals of General Psychiatry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10626700/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71477305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arianna Biancalani, Lorenzo Pelizza, Marco Menchetti
{"title":"Borderline personality disorder and early psychosis: a narrative review.","authors":"Arianna Biancalani, Lorenzo Pelizza, Marco Menchetti","doi":"10.1186/s12991-023-00475-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12991-023-00475-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The purpose of the present review was to summarize the main literature contribution on the relationship between borderline personality disorder (BPD) and early psychosis. While retracing the historical path of the term \"borderline\", specific attention was paid to psychotic and psychotic-like symptoms in BPD. Its relationship with At Risk Mental State was evaluated, as well.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This search was conducted on PUBMED/MEDLINE and PsycInfo, looking for \"Borderline personality disorder, First Episode Psychosis, Early Psychosis, Ultra-High Risk AND/OR Clinical High Risk\" for psychosis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Eight pertinent papers were identified on this topic. Their main findings were then discussed. The term \"borderline\" has undergone different changes in meaning and use, despite always referring to states considered on the fence between neurosis and psychosis. However, considering the history of psychopathology and its relationship with diagnostic manuals, little attention has been given to its psychotic features. Being those symptoms highly burdensome, this neglect has often led to misdiagnosis and under-treatment.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Psychotic symptoms in BPD can be severe and distressing. Nonetheless they can be easily neglected, and when found they challenge clinicians in defining a differential diagnosis to distinguish between BPD and Psychosis Spectrum Disorders. Given specific needs and interventions for these different conditions, a dimensional, rather than categorical, approach should be considered, as well as specific care pathways and monitoring should be advised.</p>","PeriodicalId":7942,"journal":{"name":"Annals of General Psychiatry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10623785/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71419938","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Saskia Wilhelmy, Giancarlo Giupponi, Dominik Groß, Klaus Eisendle, Andreas Conca
{"title":"A shift in psychiatry through AI? Ethical challenges.","authors":"Saskia Wilhelmy, Giancarlo Giupponi, Dominik Groß, Klaus Eisendle, Andreas Conca","doi":"10.1186/s12991-023-00476-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12991-023-00476-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The digital transformation has made its way into many areas of society, including medicine. While AI-based systems are widespread in medical disciplines, their use in psychiatry is progressing more slowly. However, they promise to revolutionize psychiatric practice in terms of prevention options, diagnostics, or even therapy. Psychiatry is in the midst of this digital transformation, so the question is no longer \"whether\" to use technology, but \"how\" we can use it to achieve goals of progress or improvement. The aim of this article is to argue that this revolution brings not only new opportunities but also new ethical challenges for psychiatry, especially with regard to safety, responsibility, autonomy, or transparency. As an example, the relationship between doctor and patient in psychiatry will be addressed, in which digitization is also leading to ethically relevant changes. Ethical reflection on the use of AI systems offers the opportunity to accompany these changes carefully in order to take advantage of the benefits that this change brings. The focus should therefore always be on balancing what is technically possible with what is ethically necessary.</p>","PeriodicalId":7942,"journal":{"name":"Annals of General Psychiatry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10623776/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71419937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Johan Bengtsson, Parya Rad, Martin Cernvall, Robert Bodén
{"title":"Psychometric properties of the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms (CAINS) in patients with depression and its relationship to affective symptoms.","authors":"Johan Bengtsson, Parya Rad, Martin Cernvall, Robert Bodén","doi":"10.1186/s12991-023-00474-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12991-023-00474-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>There is a conceptual overlap between negative and depressive symptoms, requiring further exploration to advance the understanding of negative symptoms. The aim of this study was to examine psychometric properties of the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms (CAINS) in patients with depression, and to explore the relationship between the negative and affective symptoms domains.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Fifty-one patients with a depressive episode were included and interviewed with the CAINS and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-Expanded (BPRS-E). Self-reported depressive symptoms were collected with the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS-S). Inter-rater agreement, internal consistency and validity measures were examined, as were correlations between negative and affective symptoms.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The intraclass correlation for the CAINS motivation and pleasure subscale (CAINS-MAP) was 0.98 (95% CI 0.96-0.99) and that for the expressional subscale (CAINS-EXP) was 0.81 (95% CI 0.67-0.89). Cronbach's alpha was 0.71 (95% CI 0.57-0.82) for the CAINS-MAP and 0.86 (95% CI 0.79-0.92) for the CAINS-EXP. The correlation with the negative symptoms subscale of the BPRS-E was 0.35 (p = 0.011, blinded/different raters) or 0.55 (p < 0.001, not blinded/same rater). The CAINS-MAP correlated with the affective symptoms subscale of the BPRS-E (r = 0.39, p = 0.005) and the MADRS-S total score (r = 0.50, p < 0.001), but not with anxiety symptoms.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Negative symptoms in depression can be assessed with the CAINS with good inter-rater agreement and acceptable internal consistency and validity. There are associations between negative and depressive symptoms that call for further exploration.</p>","PeriodicalId":7942,"journal":{"name":"Annals of General Psychiatry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10604520/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"54227383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hasan Nabil Al Houri, Abdullah Alhouri, Douaa Mohammad Nazir Arrouk, Ahmad Nabil Al Houri, Sami Jomaa, Alaa Sharabi, Hussein Kannout, Youssef Latifeh
{"title":"Stress, depression, anxiety, and quality of life among the healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic in Syria: a multi-center study.","authors":"Hasan Nabil Al Houri, Abdullah Alhouri, Douaa Mohammad Nazir Arrouk, Ahmad Nabil Al Houri, Sami Jomaa, Alaa Sharabi, Hussein Kannout, Youssef Latifeh","doi":"10.1186/s12991-023-00470-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12991-023-00470-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The COVID-19 pandemic emerged as an expected source of stress and anxiety as the healthcare workers had to work for long hours in close contact with infected patients, thus increasing the probability of medical errors and threatening the patients' safety. This study aims to measure the levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and stress among Syrian healthcare workers and their quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional study was conducted in six central hospitals in Damascus, Syria. Data were collected from 1 to 30 June-2021. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) was used to evaluate depression, anxiety, and stress among healthcare workers. Quality of life was assessed using the EUROHIS-QOL 8-item index.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 700 participants were included in this study. 61.6% (n = 431) were males and 38.4% (n = 269) were females. Younger ages (18-29 years old) were significantly associated with higher levels of depression and stress (p < 0.0083). Female healthcare workers had higher significant levels of anxiety (p < 0.05). Significant anxiety and stress levels were reported when healthcare workers had contact with COVID-19 patients, even if they had protective equipment (p < 0.05). Half of the participants (50%; n = 349) reported a good quality of life.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Stress levels and depressive symptoms were remarkably higher in healthcare workers of ages 18 and 29 years old, whereas anxiety levels were significantly higher and more severe in female healthcare workers. Moreover, direct interaction with COVID-19 patients was associated with higher levels of stress and anxiety symptoms.</p>","PeriodicalId":7942,"journal":{"name":"Annals of General Psychiatry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10577895/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41231862","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Junjiao Ping, Jing Wan, Caiying Huang, Jinming Yu, Jiali Luo, Zhiqiang Xing, Xingguang Luo, Baoguo Du, Tingyun Jiang, Jie Zhang
{"title":"DNMT1 SNPs (rs2114724 and rs2228611) associated with positive symptoms in Chinese patients with schizophrenia.","authors":"Junjiao Ping, Jing Wan, Caiying Huang, Jinming Yu, Jiali Luo, Zhiqiang Xing, Xingguang Luo, Baoguo Du, Tingyun Jiang, Jie Zhang","doi":"10.1186/s12991-023-00466-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12991-023-00466-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder with complex clinical manifestations, while its pathophysiological mechanism is not fully understood. Accumulated evidence suggested the alteration in epigenetic pathway was associated with clinical features and brain dysfunctions in schizophrenia. DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), a key enzyme for DNA methylation, are related to the development of schizophrenia, whereas the current research evidence is not sufficient. The aim of study was to explore the effects of gene polymorphisms of DNMTs on the susceptibility and symptoms of schizophrenia.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study was case-control study that designed and employed the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) as the diagnostic standard. 134 hospitalized patients with schizophrenia in the Third People's Hospital of Zhongshan City from January 2018 to April 2020 (Case group) as well as 64 healthy controls (Control group) from the same region were involved. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of DNMT1 genes (r s2114724 and rs 2228611) and DNMT3B genes (rs 2424932, rs 1569686, rs 6119954 and rs 2424908) were determined with massARRAY. Linkage disequilibrium analysis and haplotype analysis were performed, and genotype and allele frequencies were compared. The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was tested by the Chi-square test in SPSS software (version 20.0, SPSS Inc., USA). The severity of clinical symptoms was assessed by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The correlation between DNMT1 genes (rs 2114724 and rs 2228611) and DNMT3B genes (rs2424932, rs1569686, rs6119954 and rs2424908) and clinical features was analyzed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>There were no significant differences in genotype, allele frequency and haplotype of DNMT1 genes (rs 2114724 and rs 2228611) and DNMT3B genes (rs 2424932, rs 1569686, rs 6119954 and rs 2424908) between the case and healthy control group. There were significant differences in the PANSS total positive symptom scores, P3 (hallucinatory behavior), P6 (suspicious/persecution), G7 (motor retardation), and G15 (preoccupation) in patients with different DNMT1 gene rs 2114724 and rs 2228611 genotypes. The linkage disequilibrium analysis of gene polymorphic loci revealed that rs 2114724-rs 2228611 was complete linkage disequilibrium, and rs 1569686-rs 2424908, rs 2424932-rs 1569696 and rs 2424932-rs 2424908 were strongly linkage disequilibrium.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The polymorphisms alteration in genetic pathway may be associated with development of specific clinical features in schizophrenia.</p>","PeriodicalId":7942,"journal":{"name":"Annals of General Psychiatry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10576382/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41188827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antonino Messina, Filippo Caraci, Eugenio Aguglia, Maria Salvina Signorelli
{"title":"Catatonia-like behavior and immune activation: a crosstalk between psychopathology and pathology in schizophrenia.","authors":"Antonino Messina, Filippo Caraci, Eugenio Aguglia, Maria Salvina Signorelli","doi":"10.1186/s12991-023-00471-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12991-023-00471-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In Kalhbaum's first characterization of catatonia, the emotional symptoms, such as decreased or restricted expression of feelings and emotions, which is described as blunted affect, are related to the motor symptoms. In later years, the affective domain was excluded from the concept of catatonia and was not included among the diagnostic criteria in the various Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) versions. In recent times, some authors have proposed the proposition of reevaluating the notion of catatonia through the reintroduction of the affective domain. The objective of this study was to examine the correlation between catatonic-like behavior (CLB), such as emotional withdrawal, blunted affect, and psychomotor slowing, and inflammatory markers, namely the neutrophil/lymphocytes ratio (NLR) and lymphocytes/monocytes ratio (LMR), in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A sample of 25 patients with schizophrenia (10 females, 15 males) was recruited, and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) was used to assess the severity of emotional withdrawal, blunted affect, and psychomotor slowing.</p><p><strong>Findings: </strong>The correlation analysis (Spearman ρ) revealed a robust direct association between blunted affect and psychomotor slowing (ρ = 0.79, P = 0.001), and a significant direct correlation between CLB (emotional withdrawal, ρ = 0.51, P = 0.05; blunted affect ρ = 0.58, P = 0.05; motor retardation, ρ = 0.56, P = 0.05) and LMR (ρ = 0.53, P = 0.05). In addition, patients with a duration of illness (DOI) older than five years had a higher presence of CLB and a higher LMR than patients with a more recent diagnosis of the disease. Likely, patients with positive symptoms and in the prodromal and active stages of the disease have a different immune profile than patients in the residual stage and with a predominance of negative symptoms.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Psychomotor slowing and blunted affect are two significantly related features, representing the two-faced Janus of immobility. Furthermore, aggregating them in CLB is more predominant the longer the duration of schizophrenia and is associated with different a specific pattern of immune activation.</p>","PeriodicalId":7942,"journal":{"name":"Annals of General Psychiatry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10566179/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41188826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
N Shiraishi, M Sakata, R Toyomoto, K Yoshida, Y Luo, Y Nakagami, A Tajika, T Watanabe, E Sahker, T Uwatoko, T Shimamoto, T Iwami, T A Furukawa
{"title":"Dynamics of depressive states among university students in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic: an interrupted time series analysis.","authors":"N Shiraishi, M Sakata, R Toyomoto, K Yoshida, Y Luo, Y Nakagami, A Tajika, T Watanabe, E Sahker, T Uwatoko, T Shimamoto, T Iwami, T A Furukawa","doi":"10.1186/s12991-023-00468-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12991-023-00468-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was reported to have increased depression among university students which was associated with impairments in their campus lives. This study examined changes in depressive states among Japanese university students during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A secondary data analysis from a factorial randomized controlled trial involving smartphone-based cognitive-behavioral therapy was performed. Six cohorts (N = 1626) underwent an 8-week intervention during the spring or autumn of 2019-2021, with a 9-month follow-up. We evaluated participants' depressive states weekly using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) during the intervention, with monthly evaluations thereafter. The follow-up periods included Japan's four states of emergency (SOEs) to control COVID-19. Hypothesizing that SOEs caused a sudden worsening of depressive states, Study 1 compared the cohorts' PHQ-9 scores, and Study 2 employed time series analysis with a mixed-effects model to estimate identified changes in PHQ-9 scores.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Although no changes in depressive states were observed in relation to the SOEs, Study 1 identified sudden increases in PHQ-9 scores at the 28-week evaluation point, which corresponded to the beginning of the new academic year for the three autumn cohorts. In contrast, the three spring cohorts did not exhibit similar changes. Study 2 showed that, for all three autumn cohorts (n = 522), the 0.60-point change was significant (95% CI 0.42-0.78; p < .001) at 28 weeks; that is, when their timeline was interrupted.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>While the results do not indicate any notable impact of the SOEs, they highlight the influence of the new academic year on university students' mental health during COVID-19. Trial registration UMIN, CTR-000031307. Registered on February 14, 2018.</p>","PeriodicalId":7942,"journal":{"name":"Annals of General Psychiatry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10563354/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41181857","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Safety and effectiveness of oral medium to high dose blonanserin in patients with schizophrenia: subgroup analysis from a prospective, multicenter, post-marketing surveillance study in mainland China.","authors":"Yuan Yang, Hongmin Ge, Xijin Wang, Xuejun Liu, Keqing Li, Gang Wang, Xiaodong Yang, Huaili Deng, Meijuan Sun, Ruiling Zhang, Jindong Chen, Duanfang Cai, Hong Sang, Xianglai Liu, Guilai Zhan, Guijun Zhao, Haiyun Li, Zhiyuan Xun","doi":"10.1186/s12991-023-00467-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12991-023-00467-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Blonanserin (BNS) had been undergoing post-market surveillance (PMS) since September 2018. Using the surveillance data, we did this analysis to assess the safety and effectiveness of different doses of BNS to explore a sufficient dose range of BNS in Chinese patients with schizophrenia (SZ).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A 12-week, prospective, observational, single-arm, multicenter, open-label PMS was conducted. In this analysis, we divided the patients from PMS into low, medium to high, and high dose groups based on the dose of BNS they received, with medium to high dose group being the focus. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores at week 2 or 4, 6 or 8, and 12 were calculated to evaluate the effectiveness of BNS in improving psychiatric symptoms. The safety of BNS was reported as the incidence of adverse drug reactions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>364 patients were included in the medium to high dose group, of which 321 completed the surveillance, with a dropout rate of 11.8%. The mean daily dose was 15.1 ± 1.92 mg. The BPRS total score was 50.1 ± 11.95 at baseline and decreased to 26.6 ± 7.43 at 12 weeks (P < 0.001). When compared with other groups, the median to high dose group achieved significantly more reduction in BPRS score at week 12 (P = 0.004 versus low dose and P = 0.033 versus higher dose). Extrapyramidal symptoms [EPS (46.4%)] were the most common adverse reactions in the medium to high group. The average weight gain during the surveillance was 0.5 ± 2.56 kg and prolactin elevation occurred in 2.2% patients. Most adverse reactions were mild.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>BNS at medium to high doses (mean 15.1 mg/d) significantly improved symptoms of SZ and was well-tolerated. Most ADRs were mild, and the likelihood of causing metabolic side effects and prolactin elevations was low. Medium to high dose of BNS is a more potent treatment choice for SZ.</p><p><strong>Trial registration number: </strong>ChiCTR2100048734. Date of registration: 2021/07/15 (retrospectively registered).</p>","PeriodicalId":7942,"journal":{"name":"Annals of General Psychiatry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10557194/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41101390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}