Acta Neuropsychiatrica最新文献

Background: Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the main cannabinoids present in Cannabis sativa female flowers. Previous investigation has already provided insights into the CBD molecular mechanism; however, there is no transcriptome data for CBD effects on hippocampal subfields. Here, we investigate transcriptomic changes in dorsal and ventral CA1 of adult mice hippocampus after 100 mg/kg of CBD administration (i.p.) for one or seven consecutive days.

Methods: C57BL/6JUnib mice were treated with either vehicle or CBD for 1 or 7 days. The collected brains were sectioned, and the hippocampal sub-regions were laser microdissected for RNA-Seq analysis.

Results: The transcriptome analysis following 7 days of CBD administration indicates the differential expression of 1559 genes in dCA1 and 2924 genes in vCA1. Furthermore, GO/KEGG analysis identified 88 significantly enriched biological process and 26 significantly enriched pathways for dCBD7, whereas vCBD7 revealed 128 enriched BPs and 24 pathways.

Conclusion: This dataset indicates a widespread decrease of electron transport chain and ribosome biogenesis transcripts in CA1, while chromatin modifications and synapse organization transcripts were increased following CBD administration for 7 days.

Objectives: The link between cannabis use and psychotic symptoms or disorders is well known. However, the relation between cannabis withdrawal and psychotic symptoms is less studied.

Methods: To our knowledge, this is the first publication of an observational systematic report of cannabis-induced psychotic disorder with onset during withdrawal. Here, we review patients presenting to a major emergency room in Montreal between January 2020 and September 2023 in a context of psychotic symptoms following cannabis cessation.

Results: In total, seven male and one female patients presented at the peak of cannabis withdrawal with acute psychotic symptoms, representing less than 1% of all emergency service admissions.

Conclusions: We discuss current knowledge regarding the endocannabinoid system and dopamine homeostasis to formulate hypotheses regarding these observations.

Depression is one of the major mental disorders, which seriously endangers human health, brings a serious burden to patients’ families. In this study, we intended to further explore the antidepressant-like effect and possible molecular mechanisms of Salidroside (SAL). We built corticosterone (CORT)-induced depressive mice model and used behavioural tests to evaluate depression behaviour. To explore the molecular mechanisms of SAL, we employed a variety of methods such as immunofluorescence, western blot, pharmacological interference, etc. The results demonstrated that SAL both at 25 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg can reduce immobility time in the tail suspension test (TST). At the same time, SAL treatment could restore the reduced sugar water intake preference in the sucrose preference test (SPT) in CORT-induced depressive mice and reduce the immobility time in TST and forced swimming experiments (FST). In addition, SAL treatment reversed the reduction in the number of Ki-67, BrdU, and NeuN in the hippocampus due to CORT treatment. SAL treatment also restored the expression of SIRT1, PGC-1α, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and other proteins in the hippocampus. In addition, after blocking SIRT1 signalling with EX527, we found that the treatment with SAL failed to reduce the immobility time in TST and FST, the level of SIRT1 and PGC-1α activity were correspondingly downregulated, and the expression of DCX and Ki-67 in the hippocampus failed to be activated. These findings suggested that SAL exerts antidepressant-like effects by promoting hippocampal neurogenesis through the SIRT1/PGC-1α signalling pathway.

Objective: Some observational studies have unexpectedly reported the association of cholesterol metabolism with mental and psychological disorders, but a firm conclusion has not been drawn. The aim of this study was to further investigate the effects of peripheral cholesterol traits and cholesterol-lowering therapy on depression and schizophrenia using a Mendelian randomisation approach.

Methods: Instrumental variables meeting the correlation, independence and exclusivity assumptions were extracted from one genome-wide association study for predicting total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and nonHDL cholesterol. Instrumental variables for total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were also adopted to predict statin use (a type of cholesterol-lowering drug); these instrumental variables should not only satisfy the above assumptions but also be close to 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR, the target gene of statins) on the chromosome. Three methods (including inverse variance weighted) were used to conduct causal inference of the above exposures with depression and schizophrenia. Sensitivity analyses were performed to assess horizontal pleiotropy.

Results: Higher levels of peripheral nonHDL cholesterol were nominally associated with a decreased risk of depression (P = 0.039), and higher levels of HMGCR-mediated total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were nominally related to a decreased risk of depression (P = 0.013 and P = 0.028, respectively). Moreover, these cholesterol traits cannot affect the risk of schizophrenia. Sensitivity analysis did not reveal any horizontal pleiotropy.

Conclusion: The study provided some interesting, but less sufficient, evidence that nonHDL cholesterol may have a protective effect on depression, and lowering cholesterol using statins might increase the risk of the disease.

Objective: Traumatic brain injury (TBI)-induced anxiety is a common but under-investigated disorder, for which neuroinflammation is a significant contributor. Here we aim to investigate the protective effects of genistein, a plant-derived anti-inflammatory drug, against TBI-induced anxiety, and the underlying mechanisms.

Methods: A rat model of TBI was constructed using the lateral fluid percussion injury method. Genistein at the doses of 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg were used to treat rats at 30 min, 12 h, 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h up to 14 days after TBI. The evaluation of neurological deficit was performed preoperatively, on days 1, 3, 7, and 14 after TBI. The elevated plus maze test was carried out to assess anxiety and explorative behaviours, and the open field test was performed to assess locomotive activities. Brain injury was assessed by measuring brain water content and TdT-mediated dUTP Nick-End Labeling staining. Inflammatory responses were examined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The mRNA and protein expression were analysed using real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, respectively.

Results: In the behavioural level, genistein treatment alleviated TBI-induced anxiety behaviours and neurological deficit in rats. In the meanwhile, brain oedema was also reduced by genistein treatment, showing alleviating effects of genistein at the pathological level. TUNEL staining also showed reduced apoptosis in rats treated with genistein. Genistein also inhibited Nlrp3/caspase-1 signalling, unveiling the effects of genistein in altering molecular pathways in brains with TBI.

Conclusion: Genistein alleviates anxiety-like behaviours in TBI rats, which may be mediated via inhibiting Nlrp/caspase-1 signalling pathway.

There is a substantial use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) among both the general population and psychiatric patients, with only a minority of these users disclosing this information to their healthcare providers, including physicians and psychiatrists. This widespread use of CAM can impact positively or negatively on the clinical outcomes of psychiatric patients, and it is often done along with conventional medicines. Among CAM, phytotherapy has a major clinical relevance due to the introduction of potential adverse effects and drug interactions. Thus, the psychiatrist must learn about phytotherapy and stay up-to-date with solid scientific knowledge about phytotherapeutics/herbal medicines to ensure optimal outcomes for their patients. Furthermore, questions about herbal medicines should be routinely asked to psychiatric patients. Finally, scientifically sound research must be conducted on this subject.

Objective: Many combat veterans exhibit suicidal ideation and behaviour, but the relationships among experiences occurring during combat deployment and suicidality are still not fully understood. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that harassment during a combat deployment is associated with post-deployment suicidality and testosterone function.

Methods: Male combat veterans who made post-deployment suicide attempts and demographically matched veterans without a history of suicide attempts were enrolled in the study. Demographic and clinical parameters of study participants were assessed and recorded. Study participants were interviewed by a trained clinician using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), the Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory (DRRI) – Relationships within unit scale, the Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI), and the Brown–Goodwin Aggression Scale. Free testosterone levels were assessed in morning blood samples.

Results: DRRI harassment scores were higher and free testosterone levels were lower among suicide attempters in comparison with non-attempters. In the whole sample, DRRI harassment scores positively correlated with SSI scores and negatively correlated with free testosterone levels. Free testosterone levels negatively correlated with SSI scores. Aggression scale scores positively correlated with DRRI harassment scores among non-attempters but not among attempters.

Conclusion: Our observations that harassment scores are associated with suicidality and testosterone levels, and suicidality is associated with testosterone levels may indicate that there is a link between deployment harassment, testosterone function and suicidality.