The influence of social support on risk of acute cardiovascular diseases in female population aged 25–64 in Russia

Objective. To study the prevalence of social support (SS) and its influence on the relative risk (RR) of myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke in the female population aged 25–64 in Russia. Materials and methods. Under the third screening of the WHO “MONICA-psychosocial” programme, a random representative sample of women aged 25–64 (n=870) were surveyed in Novosibirsk. SS was measured according to the methods of the Berkman–Sym test [indices of close contacts (ICC) and index of social network (SNI)]. From 1995 to 2010, women were followed for 16 years to observe the incidence of MI and stroke. Results. The prevalence of low levels of ICC and SNI in women aged 25–64 was 57.1 and 77.7%, respectively. Low levels of ICC and SNI were associated with poor self-rated health and awareness about their health, adverse behavioural habits, high job strain and family stress. Rates of MI and stroke development were higher in married women with low ICC and SNI who were being in class “hard manual work”. Over a 16-year study period, the RR of MI in women with low ICC compared to those with high ICC was 4.9 times higher, and the risk of stroke was 4.1 times higher. Low level of SNI increased MI risk in 2.9 times, risk of stroke in 2.7 times. Conclusions. Majority of women aged 25–64 years in Russia have low social support which is associated with poor self-rated health, low awareness about the health that increases the risk of MI and stroke in 2.7–4.9 times in groups of “married” and “hard physical work”

Association of Personal Anxiety with Dopamine Receptor D4 (DRD4), DAT Genes Polymorphism

Modern studies in the world have attached high priority to the role of genetics in human psychosocial stress. People who have strong biochemical responses to stress are more inclined to develop acute and posttraumatic stress disorders. Why do such unusually strong biological reactions occur in certain people? Psychogenetics focuses on many aspects: personality traits that can affect human behavior directly. Their individual variability has been found to be a genetic trait. At present we already know a number of genes, certain allelic variants and genotypes associated with some neuropsychological characters. Among these are genes encoding intracellular and plasma protein neurotransmitter transporters and their receptors; to date, there are only several dozen genes. Of particular interest are dopaminergic system genes. However, information about the polymorphism of known genes associated with personality traits is quite limited and contradictory for open population. Under these circumstances, the chapter is devoted to the association of polymorphisms of candidate genes of the dopaminergic system with anxiety in the open population

Biological Determinants of Sleep Disorders

The purpose of the study is to research the effect of polymorphism of genes such as CLOCK, ARNTL, PER2, NPAS2, DRD4, DAT, TNF-α, and NPSR1 on sleep disorders in an open population of 25–64-year-old men. We conducted screening studies of representative samples of men aged 25–64 years. The general examination was carried out according to the standard methods included in the WHO MONICA-Psychosocial Program (MOPSY). Carriers of the C/T genotype of the CLOCK gene more often than others reported having “satisfactory” or “poor” sleep. Carriers of the C/T genotype of the ARNTL gene were more likely to experience anxiety dreams, and they woke up exhausted. Carriers of the A/A genotype of the PER2 gene were more likely to wake up two or more times per night, a total of four to seven times per week. In the population, C/T and T/T genotypes of the NPAS2 gene were significantly more common in individuals with 7-hour sleep. Genotype 4/6 of the DRD4 gene and genotype 9/9 of the DAT gene were significantly associated with sleep disturbances. Carriers of the heterozygous A/G genotype of the TNF-α-308 gene, compared with carriers of all other genotypes, more often rated sleep as “satisfactory” (30%) than “good.

Biological Determinants of Hostility

Our aim was to study the association of hostility with the DRD4, DAT, MAOA genes in an open male population of 25–64 years old. A representative sample of men aged 25–64 years (n = 657 men, average age 44.3 ± 0.4 years) was examined in 1994–1995 and 45–64 years old (n = 781 men, average age - 56.48 ± 0.2 years) in 2003–2005 using the methods proposed by the WHO international program “MONICA-psychosocial” and “HAPIEE”. All respondents completed the hostility questionnaire on their own. Genotyping of the DRD4, DAT and MAOA gene polymorphisms was carried out. It was established that the level of hostility in the male population was 76.9% in the group of 25–64 years old and 60.3% in the group of 45–64 years old. Genotypes 4/6, 4/7 of the DRD4 gene are reliably associated with a high level of hostility; the genotype 4/4 of the DRD4 gene is associated with an average and lower level of hostility. There was no association of individual genotypes and VNTR alleles of DAT gene polymorphism with different levels of hostility. It was found that among individuals with low-active alleles of the MAOA-L gene (alleles 2 and 3), a high level of hostility was more common - 50.9%. The results of constructing a logistic regression model showed that the presence of low-active alleles (2; 3) of the MAOA gene increases the likelihood of hostility OR = 2.103 (95% CI 1.137–3.889, p = 0.018). Based on the received data we can assume that the long alleles of the DRD4 gene and the low-level allele of the MAOA-L gene are associated with hostility

Sex Differences in Long-Term Trends of Psychosocial Factors and Gender Effect on Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases: Arterial Hypertension, Myocardial Infarction and Stroke

Introduction: The study aimed to determine gender differences in the prevalence and dynamics of affective states over a long period, i.e., 23 years, and to establish their effect on the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), i.e., arterial hypertension (AH), myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke among the population aged 25–64 in Russia / Siberia. Methods: Between 1994 and 2017, we conducted 4 screening surveys of representative samples (totalling 4,815 people) under the international programs MONICA and HAPIEE in Russia / Siberia. To determine the sex differences in cardiovascular risk from 1994 to 2010, we observed cohorts formed from the screened individuals without CVD and diabetes mellitus (DM). Results: High levels of affective states in the period from 1994 to 2003, especially in women, were replaced by a downward trend in 2013. At the same time, there was a reduction in the gender gap in terms of frequency of depression lower 1%, and men in the younger age groups reported higher levels of personal anxiety (49.3% vs 46.1% in adults aged 35-44y) and vital exhaustion (16.9% vs 15.6%) than women in 2017. We found that men with unfavourable levels of affective states have a 3–5 fold higher risk of hypertension and stroke, while women have a higher risk of myocardial infarction (p for all < 0.05). Hostility in men is associated with a negative risk of myocardial infarction and stroke (HR=0.3 and HR=0.29, respectively; p for all < 0.05). However, this was levelled out by unfavourable social characteristics. Conclusions: The downward trends in prevalence of psychosocial factors were unstable and associated with reduced gender gap for affective states. It had a significant impact on the gender magnitude of cardiovascular risk