Association of interleukin-10 levels with age of onset and duration of illness in patients with major depressive disorder

Objective:To investigate peripheral levels of interleukin-10 (IL-10) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) and evaluate the relationship between IL-10, age of disease onset, and duration of illness.Methods:Case-control study nested in a population-based cohort of 231 individuals (age 18-24 years) living in Pelotas, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Participants were screened for psychopathology using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I). Serum IL-10 was measured using commercially available immunoassay kits.Results:Peripheral levels of IL-10 were not significantly different in individuals with MDD or BD as compared to controls. However, higher IL-10 levels were found in MDD patients with a later disease onset as compared with controls or early-onset patients. In addition, IL-10 levels correlated negatively with illness duration in the MDD group. In the BD group, age of onset and duration of illness did not correlate with IL-10 levels.Conclusion:Higher levels of IL-10 are correlated with late onset of MDD symptoms. Moreover, levels of this cytokine might decrease with disease progression, suggesting that an anti-inflammatory balance may be involved in the onset of depressive symptoms and disease progression in susceptible individuals

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor in post-partum depressive mothers

Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most common psychiatric complication observed in women after they give birth. Some women are particularly sensitive to hormonal changes, starting in early menarche, thus increasing their vulnerability to psychological stressing agents that are triggered by environmental and physiological factors throughout their lives. Decreased serum brainderived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels have been associated to different neuropsychiatric conditions and BDNF has been considered as a candidate marker for such dysfunctions. The goal of this study was to compare the levels of BDNF between mothers who suffer from PPD and healthy control mothers as well as to searching for associations between BDNF levels and the severity of PPD. This is a case–control study including 36 mothers with PPD and 36 healthy control mothers. PPD was defined according to the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Serum BDNF was assayed with the sandwich ELISA method. Results: Serum levels of BDNF were significantly lower in women with PPD than in control mothers (P B 0.03). A significant negative correlation between BDI score and serum BDNF levels was observed (P B 0.02 and r = -0.29). Our study demonstrated that low BDNF levels are associated with PPD. This result point out to the potential usage of BDNF in the screening of PPD, which could promote early treatment and, therefore, reduce the burden to the PPD women and to the health system

A proposta da rede de serviços sentinela como estratégia da vigilância de violências e acidentes The injury surveillance system based on sentinel health services

No Brasil, as bases de dados oficiais permitem o monitoramento da mortalidade e internações no SUS, decorrentes dos acidentes e violências. É preciso conhecer a magnitude e o perfil dessas causas que demandam os serviços de emergência, bem como identificar alguns problemas ocultos tais como as violências doméstica e sexual. O propósito deste artigo é apresentar a proposta do Ministério da Saúde de implantação da Rede de Serviços Sentinela de Vigilância de Violências e Acidentes - Rede VIVA, iniciada em 2006, que visa complementar o sistema de informações existente para a vigilância dessas causas. Para obter um quadro mais completo do problema e atender à legislação vigente no País, foram estabelecidos dois componentes: 1) Vigilância de acidentes e violências em emergências hospitalares selecionadas: coleta em um mês a cada ano, através de uma amostra; 2) Vigilância das violências sexual, doméstica e/ou outras violências interpessoais em serviços de referência: coleta universal e contínua. O estabelecimento da Rede VIVA foi realizado pelo Ministério da Saúde em parceria com as Secretarias Estaduais e Municipais de Saúde a partir de critérios previamente estabelecidos. A adesão ao projeto foi acima das expectativas, todas as regiões do Brasil foram representadas.<br>In Brazil, the official data sets allow monitoring the impact of injury deaths and injury hospitalization in the public health system. But it is necessary to gather more information about the magnitude and the characteristics of injuries at Emergency Departments (ED), as well as to identify some hidden problems, such as domestic and sexual violence. The purpose of this article is to present the new Injury Surveillance System based on Sentinel Health Services, carried out by the Ministry of Health in order to broaden the knowledge of these causes.To have a more accurate picture of injuries and to enforce the law which made mandatory the information about violence against women in the country, the measures to be taken were twofold: 1) injury surveillance in ED, carried out in chosen services, collecting one-month data yearly, through a sample; 2) domestic, sexual and interpersonal violence surveillance carried out in violence reference services, through universal and continuous data collection, involving a larger number of services. The implementation of that Health Sentinel Services Network has been conducted by the Ministry of Health in partnership with the State and Municipal Health Departments based on pre-established criteria. The adherence to the project has been taken place all over Brazil