Depression in Patients With Epilepsy: A Study From Enugu, South East Nigeria.

Depression in patients with epilepsy: a study from enugu, South East Nigeria.

Filed under: Depression Treatment

Ann Med Health Sci Res. 2012 Jan; 2(1): 10-3
Onwuekwe I, Ekenze O, Bzeala-Adikaibe , Ejekwu J

Depression is a common psychiatric disorder in epilepsy patients. A bidirectional interaction is thought to be present between epilepsy and depression. There are few studies of this relationship in Nigerian Africans.This was a cross-sectional study of the frequency and pattern of depression in a cohort of epilepsy patients in Enugu, South East Nigeria.Adult patients with epilepsy seen at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, from May to September 2009 were assessed for depression using the Becks Inventory for Depression. Informed consent was obtained from each patient. Clinical data obtained were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 15. The hospital’s ethical review committee approved the study.I0 n all, 83 subjects were studied (50 males and 33 females). They were aged from 18 to 75 years, with an average of 29.87 years. Most subjects were <25 years of age, single (53, 64%) and had at least secondary school education (65, 78%). Depression was present in 71 (85.5%) subjects - minimal 57 (68.7%), mild 10 (12%), and moderate 4 (4.8%). No case of severe depression was seen. Patients <25 years of age were the most affected. Depression was not significantly associated with age, gender, seizure type, or educational level.A significant proportion of Nigerian African epilepsy patients have depression, which may be easily overlooked, with far-reaching consequences on patients' quality of life, morbidity, and mortality rates. There is need to regularly assess for and manage epilepsy-related depression in this population. HubMed – depression

A DKP Cyclo(L-Phe-L-Phe) Found in Chicken Essence Is a Dual Inhibitor of the Serotonin Transporter and Acetylcholinesterase.

Filed under: Depression Treatment

PLoS One. 2012; 7(11): e50824
Tsuruoka N, Beppu Y, Koda H, Doe N, Watanabe H, Abe K

Diketopiperazines (DKPs) are naturally-occurring cyclic dipeptides with a small structure and are found in many organisms and in large amounts in some foods and beverages. We found that a chicken essence beverage, which is popular among Southeast Asians as a traditional remedy and a rich source of DKPs, inhibited the serotonin transporter (SERT) and suppressed serotonin uptake from rat brain synaptosomes, which prompted us to isolate and identify the active substance(s). We purified a SERT inhibitor from the chicken essence beverage and identified it as the DKP cyclo(L-Phe-L-Phe). Interestingly, it was a naturally occurring dual inhibitor that inhibited both SERT and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in vitro. The DKP increased extracellular levels of the cerebral monoamines serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine in the medial prefrontal cortex and acetylcholine in the ventral hippocampus of freely moving rats when administered orally. Moreover, cyclo(L-Phe-L-Phe) significantly shortened escape latency in the water maze test in depressed mice previously subjected to a repeated open-space swimming task, which induces a depression-like state. Cyclo(L-Phe-L-Phe) also significantly improved accuracy rates in a radial maze test in rats and increased step-through latencies in a passive avoidance test in mice with scopolamine-induced amnesia. These animal test results suggest that cyclo(L-Phe-L-Phe), which is present abundantly in some foods such as chicken essence, may abrogate the onset of depression and, thus, contribute to preventing the development of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia, because senile depression is a risk factor for dementia.
HubMed – depression

No diagnostic value of plasma clusterin in Alzheimer’s disease.

Filed under: Depression Treatment

PLoS One. 2012; 7(11): e50237
Silajdži? E, Minthon L, Björkqvist M, Hansson O

There is an urgent need for biomarkers to enable early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). It has recently been shown that a variant within the clusterin gene is associated with increased risk of AD and plasma levels of clusterin have been found to be associated with the risk of AD. We, therefore, investigated the diagnostic value of clusterin by quantifying clusterin using an ELISA in plasma from 171 controls, 127 patients with AD, 82 patients with other dementias and 30 patients with depression. We observed similar plasma clusterin levels in controls, AD patients and patients with other dementias, suggesting that plasma clusterin levels have no diagnostic value for AD. There was a slight, but significant, increase in plasma clusterin in patients with depression compared to all other groups tested, which may warrant further investigation.
HubMed – depression

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