Longitudinal actor, partner, and similarity effects of personality on well-being

The current study aimed to conceptually replicate previous studies on the effects of actor personality, partner personality, and personality similarity on general and relational well-being by using response surface analyses and a longitudinal sample of 4,464 romantic couples. Similar to previous studies using difference scores and profile correlations, results from response surface analyses indicated that personality similarity explained a small amount of variance in well-being as compared with the amount of variance explained by linear actor and partner effects. However, response surface analyses also revealed that second-order terms (i.e., the interaction term and quadratic terms of actor and partner personality) were systematically linked to couples' well-being for all traits except neuroticism. In particular, most response surfaces showed a complex pattern in which the effect of similarity and dissimilarity on well-being depended on the level and combination of actor and partner personality. In addition, one small but robust similarity effect was found, indicating that similarity in agreeableness was related to women's experience of support across the eight years of the study. The discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for theory and research on personality similarity in romantic relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

Self-esteem and relationship satisfaction during the transition to motherhood

In the current study, we used 5 waves of longitudinal data from a large representative sample of Norwegian mothers (N = 84,711) to examine the association between romantic relationship satisfaction and self-esteem before and after childbirth in subgroups of first-, second-, third-, and fourth-time mothers. Maternal self-esteem showed a highly similar change pattern across subgroups. Specifically, self-esteem decreased during pregnancy, increased until the child was 6 months old, and then gradually decreased over the following years. The replication of this trajectory across subgroups and pregnancies suggests that this is a normative change pattern. For relationship satisfaction, the birth of the first child seemed to have the strongest impact compared with the birth of subsequent children. In first-time mothers, relationship satisfaction was high during pregnancy, sharply decreased around childbirth, and then gradually decreased in the following years. In second-, third-, and fourth-time mothers, the decrease in relationship satisfaction after childbirth was more gradual and linear compared with the sharp decrease found in first-time mothers. Moderate positive correlated changes between self-esteem and relationship satisfaction indicated that these constructs were linked over time. Discussion focuses on the implications of the results for theory and future research on self-esteem, relationship satisfaction, and personality-relationship transactions

Effects of rapamycin and curcumin on inflammation and oxidative stress in vitro and in vivo - in search of potential anti-epileptogenic strategies for temporal lobe epilepsy

Background: Previous studies in various rodent epilepsy models have suggested that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibition with rapamycin has anti-epileptogenic potential. Since treatment with rapamycin produces unwanted side effects, there is growing interest to study alternatives to rapamycin as anti-epileptogenic drugs. Therefore, we investigated curcumin, the main component of the natural spice turmeric. Curcumin is known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects and has been reported to inhibit the mTOR pathway. These properties make it a potential anti-epileptogenic compound and an alternative for rapamycin. Methods: To study the anti-epileptogenic potential of curcumin compared to rapamycin, we first studied the effects of both compounds on mTOR activation, inflammation, and oxidative stress in vitro, using cell cultures of human fetal astrocytes and the neuronal cell line SH-SY5Y. Next, we investigated the effects of rapamycin and intracerebrally applied curcumin on status epilepticus (SE)-induced inflammation and oxidative stress in hippocampal tissue, during early stages of epileptogenesis in the post-electrical SE rat model for temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Results: Rapamycin, but not curcumin, suppressed mTOR activation in cultured astrocytes. Instead, curcumin suppressed the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that curcumin, but not rapamycin, reduced the levels of inflammatory markers IL-6 and COX-2 in cultured astrocytes that were challenged with IL-1β. In SH-SY5Y cells, curcumin reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, suggesting anti-oxidant effects. In the post-SE rat model, however, treatment with rapamycin or curcumin did not suppress the expression of inflammatory and oxidative stress markers 1week after SE. Conclusions: These results indicate anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties of curcumin, but not rapamycin, in vitro. Intracerebrally applied curcumin modified the MAPK pathway in vivo at 1week after SE but failed to produce anti-inflammatory or anti-oxidant effects. Future studies should be directed to increasing the bioavailability of curcumin (or related compounds) in the brain to assess its anti-epileptogenic potential in vivo

Increased expression of matrix metalloproteinase 3 can be attenuated by inhibition of microRNA-155 in cultured human astrocytes

Background: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a chronic neurological disease, in which about 30% of patients cannot be treated adequately with anti-epileptic drugs. Brain inflammation and remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) seem to play a major role in TLE. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are proteolytic enzymes largely responsible for the remodeling of the ECM. The inhibition of MMPs has been suggested as a novel therapy for epilepsy; however, available MMP inhibitors lack specificity and cause serious side effects. We studied whether MMPs could be modulated via microRNAs (miRNAs). Several miRNAs mediate inflammatory responses in the brain, which are known to control MMP expression. The aim of this study was to investigate whether an increased expression of MMPs after interleukin-1β (IL-1β) stimulation can be attenuated by inhibition of the inflammation-associated miR-155.Methods: We investigated the expression of MMP2, MMP3, MMP9, and MMP14 in cultured human fetal astrocytes after stimulation with the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β. The cells were transfected with miR-155 antagomiR, and the effect on MMP3 expression was investigated using real-time quantitative PCR and Western blotting. Furthermore, we characterized MMP3 and miR-155 expression in brain tissue of TLE patients with hippocampal sclerosis (TLE-HS) and during epileptogenesis in a rat TLE model.Results: Inhibition of miR-155 by the antagomiR attenuated MMP3 overexpression after IL-1β stimulation in astrocytes. Increased expression of MMP3 and miR-155 was also evident in the hippocampus of TLE-HS patients and throughout epileptogenesis in the rat TLE model.Conclusions: Our experiments showed that MMP3 is dynamically regulated by seizures as shown by increased expression in TLE tissue and during different phases of epileptogenesis in the rat TLE model. MMP3 can be induced by the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β and is regulated by miR-155, suggesting a possible strategy to prevent epilepsy via reduction of inflammation

Daily fluctuations in occupation with and worry about COVID-19

In the first week after the first COVID-19 patient was reported in the Netherlands, we conducted a pre-registered momentary assessment study (7 surveys per day, 50 participants, 7 days) to study the dynamic relationship between individuals' occupation with and worries about COVID-19 in daily life, and the moderating role of neuroticism in this relationship. At the group level, higher scores on occupation and worry co-occurred, and occupation predicted worry 1 h later, but not vice versa. There were substantial individual differences in the magnitudes and directions of the effects. For instance, occupation with COVID-19 was related to increases in worry for some but decreases in worry for others. Neuroticism did not predict any of these individual differences in the links between worry and occupation. This study suggests that it is important to go beyond group-level analyses and to account for individual differences in responses to COVID-19