Factors associated with increased suicide risk in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Objectives: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is in itself at greater risk for suicide (suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and completed suicide) as compared to the general population. However, the majority of individuals with OCD do not have current or lifetime suicidal ideation nor did attempt suicide in their lifetime. Methods: The present paper aims to provide an updated review on factors (socio-demographic and personal factors, OCD-related variables, comorbidities, emotion-cognitive factors, and biological variables) contributing to the increased suicide risk in patients with OCD. Results: Several factors have been found to be strongly associated with suicide risk in patients with OCD, such as the severity of OCD, the unacceptable thoughts symptom dimension, having a comorbid Axis I disorder (Bipolar Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Substance Use Disorder), the severity of comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms, a previous history of suicide attempts, having high levels of alexithymia and hopelessness. Conclusions: Several contributing factors should be evaluated and identified in the clinical practice in order to improve early detection of suicide risk. Risk identification and stratification of risk remain essential components of suicide prevention and should guide the clinical approach to patients with OCD. Whether and how these risk factors for suicide in patients with OCD work together, and whether the specific factors act as moderators or mediators, remains to be fully clarified

Antidepressant Therapeutic Drug Monitoring by Minimally Invasive Techniques in Eating Disorders Patients: Preliminary Results from a Pilot Study with Focus on Vortioxetine

Patients with Eating Disorders (ED) including, among others, Anorexia Nervosa (AN), Bulimia Nervosa (BN) and Binge-Eating..

Garlic consumption in relation to colorectal cancer risk and to alterations of blood bacterial DNA

PURPOSE: Garlic consumption has been inversely associated to intestinal adenoma (IA) and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, although evidence is not consistent. Gut microbiota has been implied in CRC pathogenesis and is also influenced by garlic consumption. We analyzed whether dietary garlic influence CRC risk and bacterial DNA in blood. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study in Italy involving 100 incident CRC cases, 100 IA and 100 healthy controls matched by center, sex and age. We used a validated food frequency questionnaire to assess dietary habits and garlic consumption. Blood bacterial DNA profile was estimated using qPCR and16S rRNA gene profiling. We derived odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of IA and CRC according to garlic consumption from multiple conditional logistic regression. We used Mann-Whitney and chi-square tests to evaluate taxa differences in abundance and prevalence. RESULTS: The OR of CRC for medium/high versus low/null garlic consumption was 0.27 (95% CI = 0.11-0.66). Differences in garlic consumption were found for selected blood bacterial taxa. Medium/high garlic consumption was associated to an increase of Corynebacteriales order, Nocardiaceae family and Rhodococcus genus, and to a decrease of Family XI and Finegoldia genus. CONCLUSIONS: The study adds data on the protective effect of dietary garlic on CRC risk. Moreover, it supports evidence of a translocation of bacterial material to bloodstream and corroborates the hypothesis of a diet-microbiota axis as a mechanism behind the role of garlic in CRC prevention

Factors associated with increased suicide risk in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Objectives Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is in itself at greater risk for suicide (suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and completed suicide) as compared to the general population. However, the majority of individuals with OCD do not have current or lifetime suicidal ideation nor did attempt suicide in their lifetime. Methods The present paper aims to provide an updated review on factors (socio-demographic and personal factors, OCD-related variables, comorbidities, emotion-cognitive factors, and biological variables) contributing to the increased suicide risk in patients with OCD. Results Several factors have been found to be strongly associated with suicide risk in patients with OCD, such as the severity of OCD, the unacceptable thoughts symptom dimension, having a comorbid Axis I disorder (Bipolar Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Substance Use Disorder), the severity of comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms, a previous history of suicide attempts, having high levels of alexithymia and hopelessness. Conclusions Several contributing factors should be evaluated and identified in the clinical practice in order to improve early detection of suicide risk. Risk identification and stratification of risk remain essential components of suicide prevention and should guide the clinical approach to patients with OCD. Whether and how these risk factors for suicide in patients with OCD work together, and whether the specific factors act as moderators or mediators, remains to be fully clarified

Flavonoid Intake in Relation to Colorectal Cancer Risk and Blood Bacterial DNA

Flavonoids have been inversely associated to colorectal cancer (CRC) and are plausible intermediaries for the relation among gut microbiome, intestinal permeability and CRC. We analyzed the relation of flavonoid intake with CRC and blood bacterial DNA. We conducted a case–control study in Italy involving 100 incident CRC cases and 200 controls. A valid and reproducible food–frequency questionnaire was used to assess dietary habits and to estimate six flavonoid subclass intakes. We applied qPCR and 16S rRNA gene profiling to assess blood bacterial DNA. We used multiple logistic regression to derive odds ratios (ORs) of CRC and Mann–Whitney and chi-–square tests to evaluate abundance and prevalence of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) according to flavonoid intakes. Inverse associations with CRC were found for anthocyanidins (OR for the highest versus the lowest tertile = 0.24, 95% confidence interval, CI = 0.11–0.52) and flavanones (OR = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.08–0.42). We found different abundance and prevalence according to anthocyanidin and flavanone intake for OTUs referring to Oligoflexales order, Diplorickettsiaceae family, Staphylococcus, Brevundimonas, Pelomonas and Escherischia–Shigella genera, and Flavobacterium and Legionella species. The study provides evidence to a protective effect of dietary anthocyanidins and flavanones on CRC and suggests an influence of flavonoids on blood bacterial DNA, possibly through intestinal permeability changes

Blood Bacterial DNA Load and Profiling Differ in Colorectal Cancer Patients Compared to Tumor-Free Controls

Inflammation and immunity are linked to intestinal adenoma (IA) and colorectal cancer (CRC) development. The gut microbiota is associated with CRC risk. Epithelial barrier dysfunction can occur, possibly leading to increased intestinal permeability in CRC patients. We conducted a case-control study including 100 incident histologically confirmed CRC cases, and 100 IA and 100 healthy subjects, matched to cases by center, sex and age. We performed 16S rRNA gene analysis of blood and applied conditional logistic regression. Further analyses were based on negative binomial distribution normalization and Random Forest algorithm. We found an overrepresentation of blood 16S rRNA gene copies in colon cancer as compared to tumor-free controls. For high levels of gene copies, community diversity was higher in colon cancer cases than controls. Bacterial taxa and operational taxonomic unit abundances were different between groups and were able to predict CRC with an accuracy of 0.70. Our data support the hypothesis of a higher passage of bacteria from gastrointestinal tract to bloodstream in colon cancer. This result can be applied on non-invasive diagnostic tests for colon cancer control