Use and Misuse of Statins After ACS: Analysis of a Prescription Database of a Community Setting of 2,042,968 Subjects.

Use and misuse of statins after ACS: analysis of a prescription database of a community setting of 2,042,968 subjects.

Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2013 Mar 28;
Maggioni AP, Rossi E, Cinconze E, De Rosa M,

AIMS: To assess in a community setting how patients discharged alive after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are treated with statins. Specifically, the rate of prescription, the dosages, and 1-year adherence have been evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS: From the ARNO Observatory, we carried out a record linkage analysis of discharge records for ACS and prescription databases, which included 2,042,968 subjects of seven local health authorities from northern to southern Italy. The accrual period lasted from 1 January to 30 June 2007. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the independent predictors of prescription continuity. Of the 2,042,968 subjects, 1.5‰ were hospitalised for ACS over the 6 months, 58% of patients were aged more than 70 years, and females accounted for 33% of the cases. In-hospital all-cause death was 7.4%. Of the patients discharged alive, 80.7% received a statin treatment. High dosage of statins were used only in a minority of cases. After 1-year follow up, adherence to treatment was observed in 67.2% of patients. Older age and the presence of comorbidities were independently associated with a better prescription continuity, while presence of cancer or depression was associated with a poor prescription continuity. CONCLUSION: In a community setting, the rate of prescription of statins seems to be satisfactory. However, the dosages of statins suggest that the recommendation to use intensive statin treatment seems to be not adequately followed. Further, prescription continuity over time was suboptimal. There is still a relevant gap between evidence-based recommendations and what actually happens in routine clinical practice. HubMed – depression

Full central neurokinin-1 receptor blockade is required for efficacy in depression: evidence from orvepitant clinical studies.

J Psychopharmacol. 2013 Mar 28;
Ratti E, Bettica P, Alexander R, Archer G, Carpenter D, Evoniuk G, Gomeni R, Lawson E, Lopez M, Millns H, Rabiner EA, Trist D, Trower M, Zamuner S, Krishnan R, Fava M

Full, persistent blockade of central neurokinin-1 (NK1) receptors may be a potential antidepressant mechanism. The selective NK1 antagonist orvepitant (GW823296) was used to test this hypothesis. A preliminary positron emission tomography study in eight male volunteers drove dose selection for two randomized six week studies in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Displacement of central [(11)C]GR205171 binding indicated that oral orvepitant doses of 30-60 mg/day provided >99% receptor occupancy for ?24 h. Studies 733 and 833 randomized patients with MDD and 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D)?22 to double-blind treatment with orvepitant 30 mg/day, orvepitant 60 mg/day or placebo (1:1:1). Primary outcome measure was change from baseline in 17-item HAM-D total score at Week 6 analyzed using mixed models repeated measures. Study 733 (n=328) demonstrated efficacy on the primary endpoint (estimated drug-placebo differences of 30 mg: -2.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) (-4.50 to -0.31) p=0.0245; 60 mg: -2.86, 95% CI (-4.97 to -0.75) p=0.0082). Study 833 (n=345) did not show significance (estimated drug-placebo differences of 30 mg: -1.67, 95% CI (-3.73 to 0.39) p=0.1122; 60 mg: -0.76, 95% CI (-2.85 to 1.32) p=0.4713). The results support the hypothesis that full, long lasting blockade of central NK1 receptors may be an efficacious mechanism for the treatment of MDD. HubMed – depression

The endogenous opioids related with antinociceptive effects induced by electrical stimulation into the amygdala.

Open Dent J. 2013; 7: 27-35
Nakamura T, Tomida M, Yamamoto T, Ando H, Takamata T, Kondo E, Kurasawa I, Asanuma N

Pain relief is necessary and essential for dental treatments. Recently, the relationships of pain and emotion were studied, and electrical stimulation applied to the amygdala depressed the nociceptive response in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Thus, the antinociceptive effects of the amygdala are elucidated, but its mechanism is not yet clarified. The present study was performed to investigate whether endogenous opioid system is related to the depression, and the quantitative changes of endogenous opioids induced by electrical stimulation to the amygdala. We investigated immunohistologically c-Fos expression to confirm the activated neurons, as well as the distribution and the amount of endogenous opioids (?-endorphin, enkephalin and dynorphin A) in the brain using male Wistar rats, when electrical stimulation was applied to the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) or noxious stimulation was delivered to the peripheral tissue. c-Fos expression in the ipsilateral ACC was increased by electrical stimulation to the CeA. However, only a small amount of endogenous opioids was observed in the ACC when noxious stimulation or electrical stimulation was applied. In contrast, the amount of dynorphin A in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) was increased by electrical stimulation to the CeA, and the amount of ?-endorphin in the PAG was increased by noxious stimulation to the peripheral tissue. The results suggest that dynorphin A in the PAG induced by electrical stimulation to the CeA activate the descending antinociceptive system, and suggest that the nociceptive response in the ACC is depressed indirectly. HubMed – depression

Childhood determinants of adult psychiatric disorder.

Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health. 2013; 9: 1-50
Fryers T, Brugha T

The aim of this project was to assess the current evidence from longitudinal studies for childhood determinants of adult mental illness. Because of the variable and often prolonged period between factors in childhood and the identification of mental illness in adults, prospective studies, particularly birth cohorts, offer the best chance of demonstrating associations in individuals. A review was undertaken in 2006 of the published literature from longitudinal studies, together with some large-scale retrospective studies and relevant reviews which provided supplementary evidence. The main focus was upon potentially ameliorable characteristics, experiences or situations of childhood; however, other factors, not determinants but pre-cursors, associated with later mental illness could not be left out. Seven major electronic data-bases of published research were interrogated with a range of key-words and the results supplemented from personal searches, enquiries and reference trails. In excess of 1,500 abstracts were read to select 250 papers for full review. The material was assessed in relation to ten factors: Psychological disturbance; Genetic Influences; Neurological Deviance; Neuroticism; Behaviour; School Performance; Adversity; Child Abuse or Neglect; Parenting and parent-child relationships; Disrupted and Disfunctional Families. In 2011 the search was repeated for the period 2006 to mid-2011, using the same search terms and supplemented in the same manner. Over 1,800 abstracts emerged and almost 200 papers selected for more detailed review. These were then integrated into the original text with modifications where necessary. The whole text was then revised and edited in January / February 2012. There is continuing evidence for the association with later mental ill-health for each of these ten factors, but with different degrees of conviction. The evidence for each is discussed in detail and weighed both separately and in relation to others. These are then summarised, and the research implications are considered. Finally, the implications for prevention are discussed together with the practical potential for preventive and health-promoting programmes. HubMed – depression

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