Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Suicidal Behaviors: A Retrospective Analysis of Integrated Electronic Health Records in a Population of 7.5 Million

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused remarkable psychological overwhelming and an increase in stressors that may trigger suicidal behaviors. However, its impact on the rate of suicidal behaviors has been poorly reported. We conducted a population-based retrospective analysis of all suicidal behaviors attended in healthcare centers of Catalonia (northeast Spain; 7.5 million inhabitants) between January 2017 and June 2022 (secondary use of data routinely reported to central suicide and diagnosis registries). We retrieved data from this period, including an assessment of suicide risk and individuals' socioeconomic as well as clinical characteristics. Data were summarized yearly and for the periods before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain in March 2020. The analysis included 26,458 episodes of suicidal behavior (21,920 individuals); of these, 16,414 (62.0%) were suicide attempts. The monthly moving average ranged between 300 and 400 episodes until July 2020, and progressively increased to over 600 episodes monthly. In the postpandemic period, suicidal ideation increased at the expense of suicidal attempts. Cases showed a lower suicide risk; the percentage of females and younger individuals increased, whereas the prevalence of classical risk factors, such as living alone, lacking a family network, and a history of psychiatric diagnosis, decreased. In summary, suicidal behaviors have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, with more episodes of suicidal ideation without attempts in addition to younger and lower risk profiles

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and vitamin D receptor variants in melanoma patients from the Mediterranean area of Barcelona

BACKGROUND: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (Vitamin D) insufficiency and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on its receptor, Vitamin D receptor (VDR), have been reported to be involved in melanoma susceptibility in populations mostly from northern countries. OBJECTIVE: To investigate 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and VDR SNPs in melanoma patients from sunny area of Barcelona, two studies were carried out. The first study evaluated the levels of Vitamin D at time of melanoma diagnosis and the second one analyzed the association between VDR genetic variants and risk of having a high nevus number, the strongest phenotypic risk factor for melanoma. METHODS: The levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in 81 melanoma patients at diagnosis were measured. In a second group of melanoma patients, including 150 with low and 113 with high nevus number, 11 VDR SNPs were analyzed for their association with nevus number. RESULTS: In the first study, 68% of patients had insufficient levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (<25 ng/ml). Autumn-winter months and fair phototype were associated with 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 insufficiency; after multivariate analysis, season of sampling remained the only independent predictor of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels. In the second study, VDR variant rs2189480 (P = 0.006) was associated with risk of high nevus number whereas rs2239179 (P = 0.044) and rs7975128 (P = 0.0005) were protective against high nevus number. After Bonferroni adjustment only rs7975128 remained significant. In stratified analysis, SNP rs7975128 was found protective against multiple melanomas (P = 0.021). CONCLUSION: This study showed that even in Barcelona, a sunny Mediterranean area, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels were sub-optimal in the majority of melanoma patients at diagnosis. The involvement of VDR in nevi and, in turn, in melanoma susceptibility has also been suggested. Larger studies are needed to confirm our findings

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Suicidal Behaviors : A Retrospective Analysis of Integrated Electronic Health Records in a Population of 7.5 Million

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused remarkable psychological overwhelming and an increase in stressors that may trigger suicidal behaviors. However, its impact on the rate of suicidal behaviors has been poorly reported. We conducted a population-based retrospective analysis of all suicidal behaviors attended in healthcare centers of Catalonia (northeast Spain; 7.5 million inhabitants) between January 2017 and June 2022 (secondary use of data routinely reported to central suicide and diagnosis registries). We retrieved data from this period, including an assessment of suicide risk and individuals' socioeconomic as well as clinical characteristics. Data were summarized yearly and for the periods before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain in March 2020. The analysis included 26,458 episodes of suicidal behavior (21,920 individuals); of these, 16,414 (62.0%) were suicide attempts. The monthly moving average ranged between 300 and 400 episodes until July 2020, and progressively increased to over 600 episodes monthly. In the postpandemic period, suicidal ideation increased at the expense of suicidal attempts. Cases showed a lower suicide risk; the percentage of females and younger individuals increased, whereas the prevalence of classical risk factors, such as living alone, lacking a family network, and a history of psychiatric diagnosis, decreased. In summary, suicidal behaviors have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, with more episodes of suicidal ideation without attempts in addition to younger and lower risk profiles

SUCNR1 controls an anti-inflammatory program in macrophages to regulate the metabolic response to obesity

Succinate is a signaling metabolite sensed extracellularly by succinate receptor 1 (SUNCR1). The accumulation of succinate in macrophages is known to activate a pro-inflammatory program; however, the contribution of SUCNR1 to macrophage phenotype and function has remained unclear. Here we found that activation of SUCNR1 had a critical role in the anti-inflammatory responses in macrophages. Myeloid-specific deficiency in SUCNR1 promoted a local pro-inflammatory phenotype, disrupted glucose homeostasis in mice fed a normal chow diet, exacerbated the metabolic consequences of diet-induced obesity and impaired adipose-tissue browning in response to cold exposure. Activation of SUCNR1 promoted an anti-inflammatory phenotype in macrophages and boosted the response of these cells to type 2 cytokines, including interleukin-4. Succinate decreased the expression of inflammatory markers in adipose tissue from lean human subjects but not that from obese subjects, who had lower expression of SUCNR1 in adipose-tissue-resident macrophages. Our findings highlight the importance of succinate-SUCNR1 signaling in determining macrophage polarization and assign a role to succinate in limiting inflammation.This study was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (PI14/00228 and PI17/01503 to J.V., SAF2015-65019-R to S.F.-V., SAF2014-56819-R and SAF2015-71878-REDT to A.C., BFU2016-78951-R to G.M.-M., PI15/00143 to C.S. and PI15/01562 to A.M., BFU2015-70454-REDT and BFU2017-90578-REDT to S.F.-V. and G.M.-M.) co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The Spanish Biomedical Research Center in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disorders (CIBERDEM) (CB07708/0012) is an initiative of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. N.K. is recipient of a predoctoral fellowship from MINECO, Spain (FPI, BES-2016-077745). C.S. acknowledges support from the ‘Ramón y Cajal’ program from MINECO (RYC2013-13186) and S.F.-V. the Miguel Servet tenure-track program (CP10/00438 and CPII16/00008) from the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria, co-financed by the ERDF.Peer reviewe

Historia-historias de la lectura : XXIV Jornadas de Estudios Históricos Locales - XVII Jornadas de Historia de la Educación de los Países de Lengua Catalan

En el título, los términos 'Història' e 'Històries' están separados por una barra inclinadaLa temática de las jornadas se centra en el análisis de la dimensión educativa de la lectura a lo largo de la historia, y se desarrolla alrededor de los siguientes ejes temáticos: enseñar y aprender a leer; espacios y contextos para la lectura y su fomento; las lecturas educativas y la lectura y la educación como a elementos de debate y reflexión.La temàtica de les jornades se centra en l'anàlisi de la dimensió educativa de la lectura al llarg de la història, i es desenvolupa al voltant dels eixos temàtics següents: ensenyar i aprendre a llegir; espais i contextos per a la lectura i el seu foment; les lectures educatives i la lectura i l'educació com a elements de debat i reflexió.BalearesUniversitat de les Illes Balears. Redined Balears; Edifici Guillem Cifre de Colonya. Ctra. de Valldemossa, Km 7,5; 07122 Palma de Mallorca; +34971172792; +34971173190; [email protected]