Antidepressant Medication Use Among Patients With Depression: Comparison Between Usual Care and Collaborative Care Using Care Managers.

Antidepressant Medication Use Among Patients with Depression: Comparison between Usual Care and Collaborative Care Using Care Managers.

Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health. 2013; 9: 84-87
Dejesus RS, Angstman KB, Cha SS, Williams MD

Depression poses a significant economic and health burden, yet it remains underdiagnosed and inadequately treated. The STAR*D trial funded by the National Institute of Mental Health showed that more than one antidepressant medication is often necessary to achieve disease remission among patients seen in both psychiatric and primary care settings. The collaborative care model (CCM), using care managers, has been shown to be effective in numerous studies in achieving sustained outcomes in depression management compared to usual care. This model was adopted in a statewide depression treatment improvement initiative among primary care clinics in Minnesota, which was launched in March 2008. In this study, records of patients who were enrolled in CCM from March 2008 until March 2009 were reviewed and compared to those under usual care. Patients who were followed under the CCM had a significantly greater number of antidepressant medication utilizations when compared to those under usual care. After 6 months, mean PHQ-9 score of patients under CCM was statistically lower than those in usual care. There was no significant difference in both mean PHQ-9 scores at 6 months and antidepressant utilization between the 2 groups among patients aged 65 years and older. HubMed – depression

Imaging of Dopamine in PD and Implications for Motor and Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of PD.

Front Neurol. 2013; 4: 90
de la Fuente-Fernández R

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by dopamine depletion in the putamen, which leads to motor dysfunction. As the disease progresses, a substantial degree of dopamine depletion also occurs in caudate and nucleus accumbens. This may explain a number of neuropsychiatric manifestations, including depression, apathy, and cognitive decline. Dopamine replacement therapy partially restores motor function but long-term treatment is often associated with motor complications (motor fluctuations and dyskinesias). Positron emission tomography (PET) studies suggest that the dopamine release rate is substantially higher in PD subjects with motor complications compared to stable responders. Notably, this differential pattern of dopamine release is already present in the early stages of the disease, before motor complications become clinically apparent. Converging evidence suggests that striatal dopamine depletion in PD leads to reduced plasticity in the primary motor cortex and, presumably, in non-motor cortical areas as well. Although dopamine replacement therapy tends to restore physiological plasticity, treatment-induced motor, and neuropsychiatric complications could be related to abnormalities in corticostriatal synaptic plasticity. HubMed – depression

A Tale of Two Maladies? Pathogenesis of Depression with and without the Huntington’s Disease Gene Mutation.

Front Neurol. 2013; 4: 81
Du X, Pang TY, Hannan AJ

Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by a tandem repeat expansion encoding an expanded tract of glutamines in the huntingtin protein. HD is progressive and manifests as psychiatric symptoms (including depression), cognitive deficits (culminating in dementia), and motor abnormalities (including chorea). Having reached the twentieth anniversary of the discovery of the “genetic stutter” which causes HD, we still lack sophisticated insight into why so many HD patients exhibit affective disorders such as depression at very early stages, prior to overt appearance of motor deficits. In this review, we will focus on depression as the major psychiatric manifestation of HD, discuss potential mechanisms of pathogenesis identified from animal models, and compare depression in HD patients with that of the wider gene-negative population. The discovery of depressive-like behaviors as well as cellular and molecular correlates of depression in transgenic HD mice has added strong support to the hypothesis that the HD mutation adds significantly to the genetic load for depression. A key question is whether HD-associated depression differs from that in the general population. Whilst preclinical studies, clinical data, and treatment responses suggest striking similarities, there are also some apparent differences. We discuss various molecular and cellular mechanisms which may contribute to depression in HD, and whether they may generalize to other depressive disorders. The autosomal dominant nature of HD and the existence of models with excellent construct validity provide a unique opportunity to understand the pathogenesis of depression and associated gene-environment interactions. Thus, understanding the pathogenesis of depression in HD may not only facilitate tailored therapeutic approaches for HD sufferers, but may also translate to the clinical depression which devastates the lives of so many people. HubMed – depression

Social support, depression, and heart disease: a ten year literature review.

Front Psychol. 2013; 4: 384
Compare A, Zarbo C, Manzoni GM, Castelnuovo G, Baldassari E, Bonardi A, Callus E, Romagnoni C

Background: Coronary heart disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. Psychosocial factors such as depression and low social support are established risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with heart disease. However, little is known about the hypothetical relationship pattern between them. Purpose: The purposes of this narrative review are (1) to appraise the 2002-2012 empirical evidence about the multivariate relationship between depression, social support and health outcomes in patients with heart disease; (2) to evaluate the methodological quality of included studies. Method: PubMed and PsychINFO were searched for quantitative studies assessing the multiple effects of low social support and depression on prognosis outcomes in patients with heart disease. The following search terms were used: social relation(*), cardiac disease, support quality, relationship, and relational support. Results: Five studies (three prospective cohort studies, one case-control study, and one randomization controlled trial) were selected and coded according to the types of support (social and marital). The majority of findings suggests that low social support/being unmarried and depression are independent risk factors for poor cardiac prognosis. However, all analyzed studies have some limitations. The majority of them did not focus on the quality of marital or social relationships, but assessed only the presence of marital status or social relationship. Moreover, some of them present methodological limitations. Conclusion: Depressive symptoms and the absence of social or marital support are significant risk factors for poor prognosis in cardiac patients and some evidence supports their independence in predicting adverse outcomes. Cardiac rehabilitation and prevention programs should thus include not only the assessment and treatment of depression but also a specific component on the family and social contexts of patients. HubMed – depression