17 research outputs found
A naturalistic study of high-dose unilateral ECT among severely depressed inpatients : how does it work in the clinical practice?
Background: Naturalistic studies can be useful tools to understand how an intervention works in the real clinical practice. This study aims to investigate the outcomes in a naturalistically treated depressed inpatients cohort, who were referred, or not, to unilateral ECT. Methods: Depressed adults according to MINI admitted in a psychiatric unit were divided in unilateral ECT treated and non-ECT treated. Main outcomes were: depression improvement in Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HDRS-17) scores; response (HDRS-17 improvement ≥50 %); remission (HDRS-17 score ≤7); length of hospitalization. Results: Forty-three patients were included in unilateral ECT group and 104 in non-ECT group. No differences of psychotic symptoms, melancholic features or past maniac episode were found between groups. Unilateral ECT group had a mean HDRS-17 score higher than non-ECT group at admission (ECT: 25.05 ± 1.03; non-ECT: 21.61 ± 0.69; p = 0.001), but no significant difference was found at discharge (ECT: 7.70 ± 0.81; non-ECT: 7.40 ± 0.51; p = 0.75). Unilateral ECT group had a larger HDRS-17 score reduction during treatment (ECT: 18.24 ± 1.18; non-ECT:14.20 ± 0.76; p = 0.004). There were no significant differences in response and remission rates between groups. Unilateral ECT group had longer mean duration of hospitalization in days (ECT: 35.48 ± 2.48; non-ECT: 24.57 ± 1.50; p < 0.001), but there were no difference in mean time of treatment (ECT group:27.66 ± 1.95; non-ECT: 24.57 ± 1.50; p = 0.25). Conclusions: Unilateral high-dose ECT is still a useful treatment option, in the real world clinical practice, to reduce the intensity of depressive symptoms in highly depressed inpatients
Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research
Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4
While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge
of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In
the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of
Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus
crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced
environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian
Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by
2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status,
much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research
Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost
Associação de eletroconvulsoterapia a tratamento farmacológico no transtorno depressivo maior : análise de desfecho clínico, marcadores inflamatórios e neurotrofinas
O Transtorno Depressivo Maior (TDM) é um quadro psiquiátrico de alta prevalência, cronicidade e morbimortalidade, apresentando altos níveis de incapacidade e custos associados. Muitos pacientes acometidos não atingem a remissão de sintomas ou obtêm nível de resposta clínica significativa com fármacos antidepressivos. Nestas situações, outros tratamentos, como a eleroconvulsoterapia (ECT), são alternativas possíveis. A quantidade de estudos envolvendo a ECT é limitada, e ainda segue desconhecido o exato mecanismo de ação deste tratamento. Pesquisas envolvendo biomarcadores e ECT, além de auxiliarem na compreensão de seu mecanismo de ação, podem ajudar no esclarecimento da patofisiologia dos transtornos de base para os quais o tratamento é empregado, como a depressão. Questionamentos acerca da validade da clássica teoria monoaminérgica da depressão, e o surgimento de novas evidências como diminuições volumétricas de regiões cerebrais em indivíduos deprimidos, bem como a semelhança do estado comportamental em resposta a doenças sistêmicas infecciosas (sickenes behaviour) com estados depressivos, abriram espaço respectivamente para as teorias neurotrófica e inflamatória da depressão. Diversos estudos em modelos animais e humanos têm pesquisado a influência da ECT em neurotrofinas e marcadores inflamatórios no TDM, porém, apesar de resultados positivos, os estudos ainda são poucos, com amostras pequenas, além de outras limitações metodológicas. O objetivo desta tese de doutorado foi avaliar a associação da ECT a tratamento farmacológico no TDM e suas influências nos níveis da neurotrofina Braind Derived Neurotrophic Fator (BDNF), nos marcadores próinflamatórios interleucina-2 (IL-2), IL-6, IL-17, fator de necorse tumoral alfa (TNF-α) e interferon gama (IFN-γ), nos marcadores anti-inflamatórios IL-4 e IL-10, bem como suas influências em desfechos clínicos. No primeiro artigo, pudemos observar que não houve diferenças significativas nos níveis de BDNF sérico entre os grupos de tratamento combinado (ECT e farmacoterapia) e de tratamento exclusivamente farmacológico na admissão e nem na alta, e nenhuma variação significativa nos níveis de BDNF ocorreu em qualquer dos grupos durante o estudo. A ECT não restaurou os níveis de BDNF dos pacientes a níveis semelhantes ao de controles saudáveis. No segundo artigo, os pacientes que atingiram remissão dos sintomas depressivos com a ECT tiveram níveis de BDNF antes do tratamento significativamente maiores do que os que não remitiram, e esses valores não variaram significativamente com o tratamento. Concluiu-se que níveis mais elevados de BDNF poderiam prever remissão à ECT antes mesmo de sua realização. Finalmente, no terceiro artigo, a combinação da ECT com a farmacoterapia foi associada com diminuição dos níveis de IL-6 e aumento de TNF-α. Pacientes deprimidos, independetemente do grupo de tratamento ao qual foram submetidos, tiveram uma diminuição dos níveis de IL-6 e IFN- γ após o tratamento. Não foram observados resultados significativos para IL-2, IL-4, IL-10 e IL-17. Esta tese de doutorado traz contribuições acerca da influência da associação da ECT ao tratamento farmacológico do TDM no que concerne a marcadores biológicos e sua relação com desfecho clínico.Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a psychiatric disorder with high prevalence, chronicity, morbidity and mortality, with high levels of disability and high costs in health. Many affected patients do not achieve remission of symptoms nor get significant clinical response to antidepressant drugs. In these cases, other treatments such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are alternatives. The number of studies involving ECT is limited, and it is still unknown the exact mechanism of action of this treatment. Research involving biomarkers and ECT, in addition to providing understand about its mechanism of action, may explain the pathophysiology of the disorder for which treatment is employed, such as depression. Questions about the validity of classical monoaminergic theory of depression and the emergence of new evidence as volumetric decreases in brain regions in depressed individuals, as well as the similarity of the behavioral state in response to infectious systemic diseases (sickeness behavior) with depressive states allowed the emergence of neurotrophic and inflammatory theories. Several studies in animal models and humans have researched the influence of ECT in neurotrophins and inflammatory markers in MDD, however, despite positive results, studies are still few, with small samples and other methodological limitations. The purpose of this doctoral thesis was to evaluate the association of ECT with pharmacological treatment in MDD and its influences on the levels of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Fator (BDNF), proinflammatory (IL-2, IL-6, IL-17, TNF-α and IFN-γ) and anti-inflammatory (IL-4 and IL-10) cytokines, as well as its influences on clinical outcomes. In the first article, we observed that there were no significant differences in serum BDNF levels between the combined treatment group (ECT and pharmacotherapy) and the group that only used pharmacological treatment on admission and discharge, and no significant change in BDNF levels occurred in any group during the treatment. In patients, ECT did not restore BDNF levels to levels similar to healthy controls. In the second article, patients who achieved remission of the depressive symptoms with ECT had BDNF levels before treatment significantly higher than non-remitters, and these values did not vary with treatment. We concluded that higher levels of BDNF may predict remission with ECT even before its completion. Finally, in the third article, the combination of ECT with pharmacotherapy was associated with decreased levels of IL-6 and increased levels of TNF-α. Depressed patients, regardless of the treatment group that they were assigned, had a decrease in levels of IL-6 and IFN-γ. There were no significant findings for IL-2, IL-4, IL-10 and IL-17. The present doctoral thesis shed light on the association of ECT to pharmacological treatment in MDD in respect of biological markers and their relationship to clinical outcome
Associação de eletroconvulsoterapia a tratamento farmacológico no transtorno depressivo maior : análise de desfecho clínico, marcadores inflamatórios e neurotrofinas
O Transtorno Depressivo Maior (TDM) é um quadro psiquiátrico de alta prevalência, cronicidade e morbimortalidade, apresentando altos níveis de incapacidade e custos associados. Muitos pacientes acometidos não atingem a remissão de sintomas ou obtêm nível de resposta clínica significativa com fármacos antidepressivos. Nestas situações, outros tratamentos, como a eleroconvulsoterapia (ECT), são alternativas possíveis. A quantidade de estudos envolvendo a ECT é limitada, e ainda segue desconhecido o exato mecanismo de ação deste tratamento. Pesquisas envolvendo biomarcadores e ECT, além de auxiliarem na compreensão de seu mecanismo de ação, podem ajudar no esclarecimento da patofisiologia dos transtornos de base para os quais o tratamento é empregado, como a depressão. Questionamentos acerca da validade da clássica teoria monoaminérgica da depressão, e o surgimento de novas evidências como diminuições volumétricas de regiões cerebrais em indivíduos deprimidos, bem como a semelhança do estado comportamental em resposta a doenças sistêmicas infecciosas (sickenes behaviour) com estados depressivos, abriram espaço respectivamente para as teorias neurotrófica e inflamatória da depressão. Diversos estudos em modelos animais e humanos têm pesquisado a influência da ECT em neurotrofinas e marcadores inflamatórios no TDM, porém, apesar de resultados positivos, os estudos ainda são poucos, com amostras pequenas, além de outras limitações metodológicas. O objetivo desta tese de doutorado foi avaliar a associação da ECT a tratamento farmacológico no TDM e suas influências nos níveis da neurotrofina Braind Derived Neurotrophic Fator (BDNF), nos marcadores próinflamatórios interleucina-2 (IL-2), IL-6, IL-17, fator de necorse tumoral alfa (TNF-α) e interferon gama (IFN-γ), nos marcadores anti-inflamatórios IL-4 e IL-10, bem como suas influências em desfechos clínicos. No primeiro artigo, pudemos observar que não houve diferenças significativas nos níveis de BDNF sérico entre os grupos de tratamento combinado (ECT e farmacoterapia) e de tratamento exclusivamente farmacológico na admissão e nem na alta, e nenhuma variação significativa nos níveis de BDNF ocorreu em qualquer dos grupos durante o estudo. A ECT não restaurou os níveis de BDNF dos pacientes a níveis semelhantes ao de controles saudáveis. No segundo artigo, os pacientes que atingiram remissão dos sintomas depressivos com a ECT tiveram níveis de BDNF antes do tratamento significativamente maiores do que os que não remitiram, e esses valores não variaram significativamente com o tratamento. Concluiu-se que níveis mais elevados de BDNF poderiam prever remissão à ECT antes mesmo de sua realização. Finalmente, no terceiro artigo, a combinação da ECT com a farmacoterapia foi associada com diminuição dos níveis de IL-6 e aumento de TNF-α. Pacientes deprimidos, independetemente do grupo de tratamento ao qual foram submetidos, tiveram uma diminuição dos níveis de IL-6 e IFN- γ após o tratamento. Não foram observados resultados significativos para IL-2, IL-4, IL-10 e IL-17. Esta tese de doutorado traz contribuições acerca da influência da associação da ECT ao tratamento farmacológico do TDM no que concerne a marcadores biológicos e sua relação com desfecho clínico.Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a psychiatric disorder with high prevalence, chronicity, morbidity and mortality, with high levels of disability and high costs in health. Many affected patients do not achieve remission of symptoms nor get significant clinical response to antidepressant drugs. In these cases, other treatments such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are alternatives. The number of studies involving ECT is limited, and it is still unknown the exact mechanism of action of this treatment. Research involving biomarkers and ECT, in addition to providing understand about its mechanism of action, may explain the pathophysiology of the disorder for which treatment is employed, such as depression. Questions about the validity of classical monoaminergic theory of depression and the emergence of new evidence as volumetric decreases in brain regions in depressed individuals, as well as the similarity of the behavioral state in response to infectious systemic diseases (sickeness behavior) with depressive states allowed the emergence of neurotrophic and inflammatory theories. Several studies in animal models and humans have researched the influence of ECT in neurotrophins and inflammatory markers in MDD, however, despite positive results, studies are still few, with small samples and other methodological limitations. The purpose of this doctoral thesis was to evaluate the association of ECT with pharmacological treatment in MDD and its influences on the levels of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Fator (BDNF), proinflammatory (IL-2, IL-6, IL-17, TNF-α and IFN-γ) and anti-inflammatory (IL-4 and IL-10) cytokines, as well as its influences on clinical outcomes. In the first article, we observed that there were no significant differences in serum BDNF levels between the combined treatment group (ECT and pharmacotherapy) and the group that only used pharmacological treatment on admission and discharge, and no significant change in BDNF levels occurred in any group during the treatment. In patients, ECT did not restore BDNF levels to levels similar to healthy controls. In the second article, patients who achieved remission of the depressive symptoms with ECT had BDNF levels before treatment significantly higher than non-remitters, and these values did not vary with treatment. We concluded that higher levels of BDNF may predict remission with ECT even before its completion. Finally, in the third article, the combination of ECT with pharmacotherapy was associated with decreased levels of IL-6 and increased levels of TNF-α. Depressed patients, regardless of the treatment group that they were assigned, had a decrease in levels of IL-6 and IFN-γ. There were no significant findings for IL-2, IL-4, IL-10 and IL-17. The present doctoral thesis shed light on the association of ECT to pharmacological treatment in MDD in respect of biological markers and their relationship to clinical outcome
Por que usar eletroconvulsoterapia em pacientes graves internados com depressão? Resultados de um estudo naturalístico
A naturalistic study of high-dose unilateral ECT among severely depressed inpatients : how does it work in the clinical practice?
Background: Naturalistic studies can be useful tools to understand how an intervention works in the real clinical practice. This study aims to investigate the outcomes in a naturalistically treated depressed inpatients cohort, who were referred, or not, to unilateral ECT. Methods: Depressed adults according to MINI admitted in a psychiatric unit were divided in unilateral ECT treated and non-ECT treated. Main outcomes were: depression improvement in Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HDRS-17) scores; response (HDRS-17 improvement ≥50 %); remission (HDRS-17 score ≤7); length of hospitalization. Results: Forty-three patients were included in unilateral ECT group and 104 in non-ECT group. No differences of psychotic symptoms, melancholic features or past maniac episode were found between groups. Unilateral ECT group had a mean HDRS-17 score higher than non-ECT group at admission (ECT: 25.05 ± 1.03; non-ECT: 21.61 ± 0.69; p = 0.001), but no significant difference was found at discharge (ECT: 7.70 ± 0.81; non-ECT: 7.40 ± 0.51; p = 0.75). Unilateral ECT group had a larger HDRS-17 score reduction during treatment (ECT: 18.24 ± 1.18; non-ECT:14.20 ± 0.76; p = 0.004). There were no significant differences in response and remission rates between groups. Unilateral ECT group had longer mean duration of hospitalization in days (ECT: 35.48 ± 2.48; non-ECT: 24.57 ± 1.50; p < 0.001), but there were no difference in mean time of treatment (ECT group:27.66 ± 1.95; non-ECT: 24.57 ± 1.50; p = 0.25). Conclusions: Unilateral high-dose ECT is still a useful treatment option, in the real world clinical practice, to reduce the intensity of depressive symptoms in highly depressed inpatients