Childhood Sexual Abuse and the Development of Recurrent Major Depression in Chinese Women

Background Our prior study in Han Chinese women has shown that women with a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are at increased risk for developing major depression (MD). Would this relationship be found in our whole data set? Method Three levels of CSA (non-genital, genital, and intercourse) were assessed by self-report in two groups of Han Chinese women: 6017 clinically ascertained with recurrent MD and 5983 matched controls. Diagnostic and other risk factor information was assessed at personal interview. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated by logistic regression. Results We confirmed earlier results by replicating prior analyses in 3,950 new recurrent MD cases. There were no significant differences between the two data sets. Any form of CSA was significantly associated with recurrent MD (OR 4.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) [3.19–5.24]). This association strengthened with increasing CSA severity: non-genital (OR 2.21, 95% CI 1.58–3.15), genital (OR 5.24, 95% CI 3.52–8.15) and intercourse (OR 10.65, 95% CI 5.56–23.71). Among the depressed women, those with CSA had an earlier age of onset, longer depressive episodes. Recurrent MD patients those with CSA had an increased risk for dysthymia (OR 1.60, 95%CI 1.11–2.27) and phobia (OR 1.41, 95%CI 1.09–1.80). Any form of CSA was significantly associated with suicidal ideation or attempt (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.20–1.89) and feelings of worthlessness or guilt (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.02–2.02). Intercourse (OR 3.47, 95%CI 1.66–8.22), use of force and threats (OR 1.95, 95%CI 1.05–3.82) and how strongly the victims were affected at the time (OR 1.39, 95%CI 1.20–1.64) were significantly associated with recurrent MD

Associations of Educational Attainment, Occupation, Social Class and Major Depressive Disorder among Han Chinese Women

Background The prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) is higher in those with low levels of educational attainment, the unemployed and those with low social status. However the extent to which these factors cause MDD is unclear. Most of the available data comes from studies in developed countries, and these findings may not extrapolate to developing countries. Examining the relationship between MDD and socio economic status in China is likely to add to the debate because of the radical economic and social changes occurring in China over the last 30 years. Principal findings We report results from 3,639 Chinese women with recurrent MDD and 3,800 controls. Highly significant odds ratios (ORs) were observed between MDD and full time employment (OR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.25–0.46, logP = 78), social status (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.77–0.87, logP = 13.3) and education attainment (OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.86–0.90, logP = 6.8). We found a monotonic relationship between increasing age and increasing levels of educational attainment. Those with only primary school education have significantly more episodes of MDD (mean 6.5, P-value = 0.009) and have a clinically more severe disorder, while those with higher educational attainment are likely to manifest more comorbid anxiety disorders. Conclusions In China lower socioeconomic position is associated with increased rates of MDD, as it is elsewhere in the world. Significantly more episodes of MDD occur among those with lower educational attainment (rather than longer episodes of disease), consistent with the hypothesis that the lower socioeconomic position increases the likelihood of developing MDD. The phenomenology of MDD varies according to the degree of educational attainment: higher educational attainment not only appears to protect against MDD but alters its presentation, to a more anxious phenotype

Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Val158Met Polymorphism and Clinical Response to Antipsychotic Treatment in Schizophrenia and Schizo-Affective Disorder Patients: a Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) enzyme plays a crucial role in dopamine degradation, and the COMT Val158Met polymorphism (rs4680) is associated with significant differences in enzymatic activity and consequently dopamine concentrations in the prefrontal cortex. Multiple studies have analyzed the COMT Val158Met variant in relation to antipsychotic response. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis examining the relationship between COMT Val158Met and antipsychotic response. METHODS: Searches using PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycInfo databases (03/01/2015) yielded 23 studies investigating COMT Val158Met variation and antipsychotic response in schizophrenia and schizo-affective disorder. Responders/nonresponders were defined using each study's original criteria. If no binary response definition was used, authors were asked to define response according to at least 30% Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale score reduction (or equivalent in other scales). Analysis was conducted under a fixed-effects model. RESULTS: Ten studies met inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. Five additional antipsychotic-treated samples were analyzed for Val158Met and response and included in the meta-analysis (ntotal=1416). Met/Met individuals were significantly more likely to respond than Val-carriers (P=.039, ORMet/Met=1.37, 95% CI: 1.02-1.85). Met/Met patients also experienced significantly greater improvement in positive symptoms relative to Val-carriers (P=.030, SMD=0.24, 95% CI: 0.024-0.46). Posthoc analyses on patients treated with atypical antipsychotics (n=1207) showed that Met/Met patients were significantly more likely to respond relative to Val-carriers (P=.0098, ORMet/Met=1.54, 95% CI: 1.11-2.14), while no difference was observed for typical-antipsychotic-treated patients (n=155) (P=.65). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the COMT Val158Met polymorphism is associated with response to antipsychotics in schizophrenia and schizo-affective disorder patients. This effect may be more pronounced for atypical antipsychotics.C.C.Z. is supported by the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Eli Lilly. D.F. is supported by the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. D.J.M. has been or is supported by the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Operating Grant: “Genetics of antipsychotic-induced metabolic syndrome,” Michael Smith New Investigator Salary Prize for Research in Schizophrenia, NARSAD Independent Investigator Award by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, and Early Researcher Award from Ministry of Research and Innovation of Ontario. E.H. is supported by the Canada Graduate Scholarship. H.Y.M. has grant support from Sumitomo Dainippon, Sunovion, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Reviva, Alkermes, Auspex, and FORUM. J.A.L. has received research funding from Alkermes, Biomarin, EnVivo/Forum, Genentech, and Novartis. J.L.K. is supported the CIHR grant “Strategies for gene discovery in schizophrenia: subphenotypes, deep sequencing and interaction.” J.R.B. is supported by NIH grant MH083888. A.K.T. is supported by a NARSAD Young Investigator Award. J.S. is supported by a Pfizer independent grant. P.M. receives salary from Clinica Universidad de Navarra and has received research grants from the Ministry of Education (Spain), the Government of Navarra (Spain), the Spanish Foundation of Psychiatry and Mental Health, and Astrazeneca. S.G. is supported by the Ningbo Medical Technology Project Fund (No. 2004050), the Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo (No. 2009A610186, No. 2013A610249), and the Zhejiang Provincial Medical and Health Project Fund (No. 2015127713). S.G.P. has received research support from Otsuka, Lundbeck, FORUM, and Alkermes

Resolution improvement by focusing into saturable Kerr nonlinear media

Influence of Kerr nonlinear effect on the optical properties of a focal spot is one of the problems in nanolithography. In this paper, the process of focusing into saturable Kerr-type nonlinear media is investigated using FDTD method with an exponential saturation nonlinear model. Simulation results show that radial polarized focal beam performs better transverse resolution improvement than the linear polarized focal beam. The reasons for this phenomenon are due to the different electric field distributions of both polarization focal beams, and the enhancement of longitudinal electric components by self-focusing effect

Existence of positive solutions for two-point boundary value problems of nonlinear fractional q-difference equation

Abstract This paper is concerned with the two-point boundary value problems of a nonlinear fractional q-difference equation with dependence on the first order q-derivative. We discuss some new properties of the Green function by using q-difference calculus. Furthermore, by means of Schauder’s fixed point theorem and an extension of Krasnoselskii’s fixed point theorem in a cone, the existence of one positive solution and of at least one positive solution for the boundary value problem is established

Existence of Positive Solutions for Two-Point Boundary Value Problems of Nonlinear Finite Discrete Fractional Differential Equations and Its Application

This paper is concerned with the two-point boundary value problems of nonlinear finite discrete fractional differential equations. On one hand, we discuss some new properties of the Green function. On the other hand, by using the main properties of Green function and the Krasnoselskii fixed point theorem on cones, some sufficient conditions for the existence of at least one or two positive solutions for the boundary value problem are established

Existence and uniqueness of the solutions for the fractional initial value problem

In this paper, we discuss the initial value problem of fractional differential equations in-volving Riemann-Liouville differentialoperators. By means of the mixed monotoneoperator theory, we obtain the existence and uniquenessof the solutions to the initial value problem,and an exampleis givento illustrate the main result

Existence of Three Positive Solutions for a Class of Boundary Value Problems of Caputo Fractional q

A class of boundary value problems of Caputo fractional q-difference equation is introduced. Green’s function and its properties for this problem are deduced. By applying these properties and the Leggett-Williams fixed-point theorem, existence criteria of three positive solutions are obtained. At last, some examples are given to illustrate the validity of our main results

Inflammatory cytokines derived from peripheral blood contribute to the modified electroconvulsive therapy-induced cognitive deficits in major depressive disorder

Little is known about the pathophysiology of memory deficits in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) treated with modified electroconvulsive therapy (MECT). This study examined the profiles of cytokines, the memory function, and their association in MECT-treated MDD patients. Forty first-episode, drug-free MDD patients and 40 healthy controls were recruited. MECT was started with antidepressant treatment at a stable initial dose. The Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression 17 (HRSD-17) were used to assess the cognitive function. MDD patients were divided into the memory impairment group (WMS = 50) based on the total WMS scores after MECT. The levels of NOD-like receptor 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, interleukin-18 (IL-18) and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-kappa B) in the serum were measured. MDD patients showed significantly higher levels of NLRP3 inflammasome, IL-18 and NF-kappa B than that in the controls prior to MECT, and the levels also significantly increased after MECT. In MDD patients, the serum levels of these inflammatory cytokines were negatively associated with the total WMS scores and likely contributed to the scores independently. The receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the serum levels of these inflammatory cytokines may predict the cognitive impairment risk in MDD patients receiving MECT. Abnormal levels of NLRP3 inflammasome, IL-18 and NF-kappa B reflecting the disturbed balance of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mechanisms likely contribute to the MECT-induced cognitive deficits in MDD patients