F Benedetti

..A growing number of clinical studies support the usefulness of chronotherapeutic interventions, such as total sleep deprivation (TSD) and light therapy (LT), in the treatment of nonresistant bipolar depression...

..This study evaluated the effect of ACEs and chronic undifferentiated schizophrenia on neural responses to emotional stimuli (negative facial expression)...

..This, together with previous findings on this polymorphism could lead to a further dissection of the complexity of mood disorders...

..Here we review the most recent findings supporting the hypothesis that major depression is a medical illness of the brain which can be elicited by neurological illnesses...

..In animals the knockout of GSK3-? counteracts the depressive-like behavioral effects of 5-HT inhibition...

..We observed that the decrease in the Glx/creatine ratio significantly correlated with the improvement of both objective and subjective measures of depression...

..The COMT enzyme inactivates catecholamines, and the COMT Val(108/158)Met polymorphism (rs4680) influences the enzyme activity. Clinical studies on the effect of rs4680 on antidepressant response gave contrasting results...

..Results confirm the interest for individual gene variants of the serotonin pathway in shaping clinical characteristics of depression and antidepressant response...

..Results need to be confirmed in larger samples, but warrant interest for the variants of molecular clock genes as possible endophenotypes of bipolar disorder...

..Results are consistent with the known effects of sleep-wake manipulations and neurotransmitter function on the suprachiasmatic nucleus...

..Chronotherapeutics offer a benign alternative to more radical treatments of depression for the treatment of severe depression in psychiatric wards, but with the advantage of rapidity of onset...

..Our results support the hypothesis that individual clock genotype may influence several variables linked with human behaviors in normal and psychopathological conditions...

..A polymorphism in the promoter for the serotonin transporter influences both antidepressant response and the structure and function of specific brain areas...

..Individual characteristics of the molecular clock can influence sleep symptoms in mood disorders...

..This finding supports the hypothesis of a major role for catecholamines in the mechanism of action of chronotherapeutics, and for rs4680 in modulating this effect...

..Brain imaging studies suggested that ToM and Emp depend on the activation of brain networks mainly localized at the superior temporal lobe and temporo-parietal junction...

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..We studied the effect of a positive history of attempted suicide and ongoing lithium treatment on regional GM volumes of patients affected by bipolar depression...

..In humans, the G variant of the C(-1019)G 5-HT1A receptor promoter gene polymorphism (rs6295) has been associated with higher expression of 5-HT1A receptors, increased depression, and lower stress preceding completed suicide...

..Literature suggests that WM integrity could be altered in bipolar disorder. Heterogeneity of brain imaging methods, the studied samples, and drug treatments make localization, nature, and severity of the WM abnormalities unclear...

..Previous studies in bipolar patients reported non-significant trends in the same direction...

..These results support the interest for GSK3-beta as a factor affecting neuropathology in major behavioural disorders, such as schizophrenia, and thus as a possible target for treatment...

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..Bright artificial light improves non-seasonal depression. Preliminary observations suggest that sunlight could share this effect...

..Despite its theoretical importance, the clinical usefulness of combining TSD with a dopaminergic agent must be questioned...

..Our preliminary finding confirms the clinical value of IL-6 baseline concentration as a predictor of response to antidepressant treatment...

..The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of morning light therapy or placebo combined with citalopram in the treatment of patients affected by a major depressive episode without psychotic features...

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..Recent clinical studies found a significant effect of rs4680 on antidepressant response to fluoxetine and paroxetine, but several other studies were negative. No study considered drug plasma levels as possible nuisance covariate...

..Consideration of possible stratification effects such as gender, age at onset and duration of illness did not reveal any association either. The tested gene variants are not a main factor influencing TSD outcome in bipolar disorder...

..Given the post-hoc nature of the finding, replication in independent samples is necessary to confirm it...

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..Despite a 16.3% attrition rate, 79% of patients achieved response. The drug was well tolerated...

..The short-term relapse that follows acute response to TSD has been successfully prevented by combining TSD with light therapy. The mechanism of action of this combined treatment is unknown...

..Consideration of possible stratification effects such as gender, age at onset and duration of illness did not reveal any association either. DRD4 exon 3 variants are not a main factor influencing TSD outcome in bipolar disorder...

..A significant interaction of treatment and valence of the stimuli was also detected in other areas that have been widely associated with the depressive illness...

..The authors tested the hypothesis that the allelic variation of the 5-HTT-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) could influence the response of depressed patients to total sleep deprivation...

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..A chi-square test confirmed a statistical significance of the discordance between the two rhythms. We discuss our findings hypothesizing a different degree of entrainment of the disease process to the main circadian pacemaker...

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..We showed a relationship between Per3 polymorphism and postpartum depressive onset in bipolar disorder...

..We confirmed the existence and the predictability of cyclical mood patterns in a subgroup of patients. The absence of a linear improvement in perceived mood did not worsen the final response to antidepressant therapy...

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..Unipolar patients showed a trend toward the same difference. Data support a role for 5-HTTLPR in course of affective illness...

..These preliminary results could shed further light on the involvement of circadian genes in various aspects of physiological and psychopathological mechanisms of the brain...

..We discuss our findings hypothesizing an enhancement in dopaminergic and possibly in serotonergic transmission due to repeated TSD adding to the increase in serotonergic transmission due to fluoxetine medication...

..The present paper reviews the pharmacogenetic studies published to date, focusing the attention on the serotonergic pathway...

..0002, respectively). We conclude that an interaction between clozapine and the CLOCK gene polymorphism 3111 T/C substitution could explain persistent daytime sleepiness in a significant proportion of patients treated with clozapine...

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..Other demographic and clinical features were found not related with CLOCK polymorphisms. This preliminary observation leads to hypothesize a possible involvement of the CLOCK gene polymorphism in the sleep disregulations in MDD and BP...

..The aim was to bridge gaps between the research evidence and clinical decisions, and reach an agreement on several key points of chronobiological and brain stimulation techniques, as well as on relevant objectives for future research...

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..CONCLUSIONS: Chronobiological interventions and control of environmental stimuli can be a useful add-on for the treatment of acute mania in a hospital setting...

..These data call for revisiting current HLA matching strategies for unrelated HSCT, suggesting that searches should be directed up-front toward identification of HLA-DPB1 permissive, 10 of 10 or 9 of 10 matched donors...

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..3) Given the urgent need for new strategies to treat patients with residual depressive symptoms, clinical trials of wake therapy and/or adjuvant light therapy, coupled with follow-up studies of long-term recurrence, are a high priority...