Bahareh Eslami^1,2

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.3, pp. 357-363, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12452

Abstract Objective: The aims of this study were to compare the level of posttraumatic stress disorder between adults with and without congenital heart disease, and to examine the correlates of posttraumatic stress disorder (e.g., sociodemographics).
Design: Cross-sectional.
Setting: Two university-affiliated heart hospitals in Tehran, Iran.
Patients: A sample of 347 adults with congenital heart disease aged 18–64 years (52% women), and 353 adults without congenital heart disease matched by sex and age (±2 years) was recruited. Outcome Measures: The PTSD Scale: Self-report version was used to assess the diagnosis and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder. Hierarchical multivariate logistic regression analyses… More >

Yu-Ning Liu¹, Yun-Li Peng¹, Lei Liu¹, Teng-Yun Wu¹, Yi Zhang¹, Yong-Jie Lian¹, Yuan-Yuan Yang¹, Keith W. Kelley², Chun-Lei Jiang¹, Yun-Xia Wang¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.26, No.1, pp. 15-25, 2015, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2015.0362

Abstract Depression is often preceded by exposure to stressful life events. Chronic stress causes perturbations in the immune system, and up-regulates production of proinflammatory cytokines, which has been proposed to be associated with the pathogenesis of clinical depression. However, the potential mechanisms by which stress-induced proinflammatory cytokines lead to the development of depression are not well understood. Here, we sought to screen the main proinflammatory cytokines and the potential mechanisms linking inflammation to depression-like behavior during unpredictable, chronic, mild stress (UCMS), in vivo. Mice were allocated into four groups in each separate experiment: saline-control, saline-UCMS, drug-control… More >

Mohammad Taraz¹, Mohammad-Reza Khatami², Afshin Gharekhani¹, Alireza Abdollahi³, Hossein Khalili⁴, Simin Dashti-Khavidaki^4,5

European Cytokine Network, Vol.23, No.4, pp. 179-186, 2012, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2013.0326

Abstract Aim: Depression represents the most frequent psychiatric disorder in patients on maintenance haemodialysis (HD), and it might be associated with secretion of inflammatory cytokines. In this study, we explore the possible correlations between depression and pro-inflammatory (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α), anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokines, as well as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) serum levels.Methods: Eighty three HD patients were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and ‘elevated symptoms of depression’ were defined as a BDI score of ≥16. Biochemical parameters (serum albumin, haemoglobin, ferritin, etc.) and dialysis dosage… More >

Timothy V. Johnson¹, Ammara Abbasi¹, Samantha S. Ehrlich¹, Renee S. Kleris¹, Ashli Owen-Smith², Charles L. Raison³, Viraj A. Master^1,4

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.19, No.1, pp. 6100-6104, 2012

Abstract Introduction: Depression and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) are prevalent, especially in older patient populations. Emerging data suggest potential interactions between depression and BPH. We sought to assess whether the questions of the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), specifically the quality of life (QoL) question, predict depression.
Materials and methods: We asked 541 consecutive male patients over the age of 40 in a tertiary care clinic to self-administer the IPSS QoL score and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), a validated screening tool for depression. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were depicted and used to determine the area under… More >