ObjectiveWe aimed to investigate changes in whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) before and after electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) and suicidal ideation (SI).MethodsForty-nine adolescents with MDD and SI were enrolled, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was performed at baseline and after ECT for each patient. Forty healthy controls (HCs) were scanned only at baseline. Region-of-interest (ROI)-based whole-brain FC analyses were used, with the left superior frontal gyrus (L-SFG) and right superior temporal gyrus (R-STG) as seed regions.ResultsCompared with HCs, MDD patients at baseline showed decreased FC between R-STG and left inferior occipital gyrus (L-IOG), and between L-SFG and right anterior cingulate gyrus (R-ACG). After ECT, MDD patients showed reduced FC between R-STG and right middle temporal gyrus (R-MTG), increased FC between L-SFG and right middle frontal gyrus (R-MFG), and decreased FC between L-SFG and right superior occipital gyrus (R-SOG)/right superior frontal gyrus (R-SFG). Pearson’s correlation found that post-ECT Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 (HAMD-17) scores were negatively correlated with FC between R-STG and L-IOG.ConclusionAbnormal FC in the frontal-cingulate and frontal-temporal circuits may be a potential neurobiological basis of depressive and suicidal symptoms in adolescents. ECT may improve these symptoms by modulating FC in these key brain regions.

BackgroundElectroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains a rapid and highly effective treatment for severe, treatment-resistant depression in adolescents, particularly when immediate suicide risk is present. However, its clinical utilization in the pediatric population is still low, largely restricted by pervasive concerns regarding cognitive impairment. While randomized trials in adults suggest that bifrontal (BF) electrode placement offers a superior cognitive safety profile compared to the standard bitemporal (BT) placement, comparative evidence specifically regarding the developing adolescent brain remains scarce.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study at the Department of Psychiatry in a tertiary general hospital, analyzing 217 adolescents (aged 12–18 years) diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) who underwent a course of ECT between January 2018 and June 2024. Patients were categorized into the BF group (n = 111) or BT group (n = 106) based on the electrode placement utilized. The primary efficacy outcomes were the response rate (≥50% reduction in 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-24) scores) and remission rate (HAMD-24 score ≤8). Secondary outcomes included the reduction in suicidal ideation (Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSSI) scores), the incidence of subjective memory complaints, and post-ictal recovery time. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify independent predictors of subjective memory complaints, adjusting for baseline severity and concurrent medications.ResultsBaseline demographic and clinical characteristics, including severity of depression and suicidality, were well-balanced between groups. The BF group achieved a numerically higher response rate (85.6%) compared to the BT group (82.1%), although this difference did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.478; odds ratio [OR] = 1.29, 95% CI 0.64–2.42). Remission rates were also comparable (33.3% vs. 33.0%; p = 0.963). Both groups showed equal efficacy in reducing suicidal ideation (p > 0.05). While efficacy outcomes were similar, the two modalities showed notable differences in two specific safety-related endpoints that are relevant to daily clinical practice: the incidence of subjectively reported memory complaints (28.8% in the BF group compared with 67.9% in the BT group; p < 0.001; OR = 0.20, 95% CI 0.11–0.36) and the objectively measured post-ictal recovery time (23.7 ± 7.7 min for BF compared with 33.4 ± 9.9 min for BT; p < 0.001; Cohen’s d = 1.12). After adjusting for age, baseline HAMD-24 scores, and concurrent use of benzodiazepines and antipsychotics, BF placement remained a significant independent protective factor against subjective memory complaints (adjusted OR = 0.21, 95% CI: 0.11–0.39, p < 0.001).ConclusionIn adolescents with MDD, bifrontal ECT showed short-term antidepressant and anti-suicidal outcomes comparable to those of bitemporal ECT in this retrospective cohort. BF ECT appeared to be associated with fewer subjective memory complaints (as assessed by spontaneous patient reports and daily physician inquiries) and shorter post-ictal recovery time. These two endpoints, while clinically relevant in routine practice, do not capture the full spectrum of cognitive function; standardized neuropsychological assessment would be required for a comprehensive comparison. Given the retrospective design and non-random treatment allocation, these findings should be interpreted cautiously and confirmed in prospective controlled studies.

The objective of this study was to investigate the satisfaction levels of undergraduate students majoring in psychiatric medicine at Chongqing Medical University. Additionally, it aimed to examine the differences in satisfaction among students of different grades to assess the impact of curriculum reforms implemented since 2017. A self-designed questionnaire, validated by the Delphi method (CVI = 0.90), was utilized to survey undergraduate students from the 2016 to 2019 grades. A comparative analysis was conducted between the pre-reform cohort (2016 grade) and post-reform cohorts (2017–2019 grades). Multivariate logistic regression and mediation analysis were employed to identify factors associated with career intentions. A total of 284 valid questionnaires were collected. The overall satisfaction of students in the 2017–2019 cohorts was significantly higher than that of the 2016 cohort (P < 0.001). The post-reform cohorts showed significantly higher satisfaction with mentorship (P = 0.004) and clinical practice (P = 0.003). Multivariate analysis indicated that the curriculum reform was independently associated with willingness to pursue a career in psychiatry (OR = 2.28). Mediation analysis suggested that improved satisfaction with mentorship partially accounted for the association between the reform and career intentions. The curriculum reform and mentorship appear to have strengthened professional education, enhanced student satisfaction, and were associated with greater willingness to pursue psychiatric careers.

BackgroundInternet Addiction (IA) has become a significant public health issue, particularly among medical students. However, research on IA within medical students with a psychiatric major, who receive specialized mental health training, remains limited. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of IA and its associations with mental health variables (depression, anxiety, impulsivity) and social factors among medical students with a psychiatric major, while exploring the mediating role of mental health variables in the relationship between academic year and IA.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted with 390 medical students with a psychiatric major at Chongqing Medical University from February to May 2021. Participants completed validated instruments, including Young’s Internet Addiction Test (Y-IAT), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11). Demographic and social factors were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U tests, chi-square test, correlation analyses. Mediation analyses were conducted using the SPSS PROCESS macro (Model 4).ResultsThe average Y-IAT score was 37.57 ± 13.80, with 17.7% meeting the criteria for IA (Y-IAT ≥50). Additionally, participants reported low levels of depressive (PHQ-9 = 2.04 ± 3.01) and anxiety symptoms (GAD-7 = 1.26 ± 2.58). IA was significantly associated with increased impulsivity (r = 0.534, p < 0.001), depression (r = 0.399, p < 0.001), anxiety (r = 0.347, p < 0.001), academic stress (r = 0.239, p < 0.001), poor peer relationships (r = 0.199, p < 0.001), and peer bullying experiences (r = 0.137, p < 0.05). A higher academic year was associated with a reduction in IA, partly mediated by decreased impulsivity (B = −0.7556, 36.60%) and depressive symptoms (B = −0.2640, 12.80%).ConclusionMedical students with a psychiatric major showed a relatively lower prevalence of IA, depressive and anxiety symptoms. Higher academic years were associated with reduced IA via lower impulsivity and depressive symptoms, potentially due to enhanced psychological literacy. Additionally, poor peer and parental relationships, along with experiences of peer bullying, were linked to higher IA risk, highlighting the importance of stronger social support and early intervention. Future studies should explore targeted psychological and educational interventions to mitigate IA among students.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an important treatment for depression. Although it is known as the most effective acute treatment for severe mood disorders, its therapeutic mechanism is still unclear. With the rapid development of neuroimaging technology, various neuroimaging techniques have been available to explore the alterations of the brain by ECT, such as structural magnetic resonance imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, positron emission tomography, single photon emission computed tomography, arterial spin labeling, etc. This article reviews studies in neuroimaging on ECT for depression. These findings suggest that the neurobiological mechanism of ECT may regulate the brain functional activity, and neural structural plasticity, as well as balance the brain's neurotransmitters, which finally achieves a therapeutic effect.

BACKGROUND:Depression is a common and complex mental disease, and its pathogenesis involves several brain regions. Abnormalities in the amygdala-hippocampal neural circuits have been shown to be involved in depression. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear.METHODS:A rat model was used to determine the transcriptome changes in the amygdala-hippocampal neural network under chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). Depression-related modules in this neural network were identified using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Difference and enrichment analyses were used to determine differential gene expression in the two brain regions.RESULTS:The modules in the amygdala and hippocampus associated with depression-like behavior contained 363 and 225 genes, respectively. Forty-two differentially expressed genes were identified in the amygdala candidate module and 37 in the hippocampus. Enrichment analysis showed that candidate genes in the amygdala were associated with neuronal myelination and candidate genes in the hippocampus were associated with synaptic transmission. Finally, based on module hub gene statistics, differential gene expression, and protein-protein interaction networks, 11 central genes were found in the amygdala candidate module, and one central gene was found in the hippocampal module.LIMITATIONS:Our study was based on a rat CUMS model. Further evidence is needed to prove that our results are applicable to patients with depression.CONCLUSION:This study identified critical modules and central genes involved in the amygdala-hippocampal circuit in the context of depression, and may provide further understanding of the pathogenesis of depression and help identify potential targets for antidepressant therapy.

Objects: The efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the treatment of adolescents with treatment-refractory depression is still unsatisfactory, and the individual differences are large. It is not clear which factors are related to the treatment effect. Resting-state fMRI may be a good tool to predict the clinical efficacy of this treatment, and it is helpful to identify the most suitable population for this treatment. Methods: Forty treatment-refractory depression adolescents were treated by ECT and evaluated using HAMD and BSSI scores before and after treatment, and were then divided into a treatment response group and a non-treatment group according to the reduction rate of the HAMD scale. We extracted the ALFF, fALFF, ReHo, and functional connectivity of patients as predicted features after a two-sample t-test and LASSO to establish and evaluate a prediction model of ECT in adolescents with treatment-refractory depression. Results: Twenty-seven patients achieved a clinical response; symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation were significantly improved after treatment with ECT, which was reflected in a significant decrease in the scores of HAMD and BSSI (p < 0.001). The efficacy was predicted by ALFF, fALFF, ReHo, and whole-brain-based functional connectivity. We found that models built on a subset of features of ALFF in the left insula, fALFF in the left superior parietal gyrus, right superior parietal gyrus, and right angular, and functional connectivity between the left superior frontal gyrus, dorsolateral–right paracentral lobule, right middle frontal gyrus, orbital part–left cuneus, right olfactory cortex–left hippocampus, left insula–left thalamus, and left anterior cingulate gyrus–right hippocampus to have the best predictive performance (AUC > 0.8). Conclusions: The local brain function in the insula, superior parietal gyrus, and angular gyrus as well as characteristic changes in the functional connectivity of cortical–limbic circuits may serve as potential markers for efficacy judgment of ECT and help to provide optimized individual treatment strategies for adolescents with depression and suicidal ideation in the early stages of treatment.

Abstract Objective Major depressive disorder (MDD) with suicidal symptoms is common in adolescents. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is highly effective in the treatment of MDD. We have described its use and outcome in a case series of adolescents with depression and suicidal symptoms receiving ECT. Methods We analyzed 362 adolescents aged from 12 to 17 who had received ECT between year 2015 and 2021. A total of 278 subjects were found to meet the inclusion criteria, where depressive symptoms were assessed by HDRS and suicidal symptoms were assessed by HDRS item 3. Their sociodemographic, clinical, and treatment information were retrieved through these records for this study. Results The mean ± SD age of subjects was 15.41 ± 1.50 years and male sex was 14.7% (n = 41). Comorbid diagnoses were present in 104 patients (37.4%). The ECT sessions ranged from 6 to 12 times. All the patients took antidepressants, with sertraline (n = 182; 65.5%) being the most widely used. Majority of patients also received benzodiazepines. ECT was significantly effective in adolescents with depression and suicidal symptoms in evaluation by HDRS, HDRS item 3, CGI‐S (p < .001) pre/post‐ECT. The response rate of MDD patients was 52%, with suicidal ideation (SI) at 49%, and 54% in MDD with suicide attempt (SA). The change of CGI‐S scores showed no significant differences between various subgroups of sex and comorbid (p>.05), but there were significant differences between subgroups of suicidal symptoms (p < .001). ECT was generally safe with subjective memory complaint (n = 189, 68.0%), headache (n = 150, 54.0%), body pain (n = 28, 10.1%), delirium (n = 95, 34.2%), and nausea (n = 31, 11.2%) as possible side effects following ECT. Conclusion In this study, ECT was found to decrease depressive and suicidal symptoms in adolescents, and the side effect was acceptable. ECT showed better outcome for MDD with SA compared to MDD with SI.

Objective:To evaluate whether depression is the contraindication of anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF) for cervical spondylosis. Material and methods:Patients with single-segment cervical spondylosis who underwent ACDF from January 2015 to December 2018 in our department were retrospectively included in this study and divided into two groups. Patients who were diagnosed of depression and prescribed with antidepressant drugs for at least 6 months before surgery were included in the intervention group. Patients without depression were included in the control group. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score was used to evaluate the severity of depression. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score, Japanese Orthopeadic Association (JOA) score, Neck Disability Index (NDI), and the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) were recorded as indexes to assess the pain, cervical spine function, degree of cervical spine injury, and life quality, respectively. The operative time, operative blood loss, hospital stay and complications were also recorded and compared. Results:A total of 117 patients were included in this study, involving 32 patients in the intervention group and 85 patients in the control group. No significant differences were found in operative time, operative blood loss, hospital stay and complications between the two groups (P>0.05). The BDI score, VAS score, JOA score, NDI, SF-36 physical component score (SF-36 PCS) and SF-36 mental component score (SF-36 MCS) were all significantly improved at last follow-up in both the two groups. The intervention group showed higher BDI score and SF-36 MCS than the control group at both preoperative and the last follow-up (P<0.05), and the improvements of BDI score and SF-36 MCS were also higher in the intervention group (P<0.05). Although the intervention group showed higher VAS score, NDI, SF-36 PCS and lower JOA score at preoperative and last follow-up, respectively (P<0.05), there were no significant differences in the improvements of these indexes between the two group (P>0.05). Conclusions:Depression is not the contraindication of ACDF for cervical spondylosis. Depression patients who received preoperative antidepressants can achieve similar improvement of clinical symptoms from ACDF with non-depression patients.

ObjectivesTo understand the attitudes of medical students with a psychiatry major toward psychiatry at Chongqing medical university in China and to find out factors influencing students' career choice. MethodsThe present study used an online web survey tool to assess the attitudes toward psychiatry amongst 422 students majoring in psychiatry at Chongqing medical university in China using sociodemographic and Attitudes Toward Psychiatry-30 items (ATP-30) scales. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used to examine associated factors. ResultsThree hundred and sixty-nine students (87%) answered the questionnaire. Nearly 54.5% of participants had overall positive attitudes to psychiatry and 80.8% thought psychiatrist could be a career choice. Of the students, 5.1% showed that they did not want to be a psychiatrist while the remaining 14.1% were undecided. The first and fifth year students showed less desire to be a psychiatrist (74.3 and 69.8%, respectively); the highest percentage recorded is of the third year (90.6%). Female participants, in contact with patients suffering from mental illness, were willing to study psychiatry as a master degree and see good prospects were positive factors in choosing psychiatry as a career. ConclusionsStudents generally have good expectations toward psychiatry, but different opinions are also held and the field is still faced with various challenges in order to provide more psychiatrists.

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was used to investigate the effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) causing brain function changes in adolescents who suffered from depression and suicidal ideation (SI). A total of 30 patients (MDDs) and 25 healthy controls (HCs) matched by gender, age, and education level were enrolled. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) were used to compare differences between HCs and MDDs at baseline, and differences in ALFF and ReHo pre/post ECT in MDDs. Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between altered brain function and clinical symptoms. At baseline, MDDs showed decreased ALFF in the left inferior temporal gyrus and right amygdala, decreased ReHo in left inferior temporal gyrus, and increased ReHo in the right inferior frontal gyrus, opercular part and left middle occipital gyrus. After ECT, MDDs showed increased ALFF in the right middle occipital gyrus, decreased ALFF in left temporal pole, left inferior frontal gyrus, opercular part, and right frontal middle gyrus, increased ReHo in the right middle occipital gyrus, and left inferior temporal gyrus. Pearson correlation found HAMD scores at baseline were negatively correlated with ALFF in the left inferior temporal gyrus, and HAMD and BSSI scores after ECT were negatively correlated with ALFF in the right middle occipital gyrus. The abnormal activities of amygdala, inferior temporal gyrus and middle occipital gyrus might be related to depressive and suicidal symptoms in adolescents.

Objective To investigate the differences of peripheral blood DNA methylation in identical twin adolescents with different depressive phenotypes and explore whether these differentially expressed genes can be used as candidate genes involved in the occurrence of depression. Methods Three pairs of verified identical twin adolescents (12~18 years old) were recruited in this study. Phenotypic differences of depression between the twins were determined by Beck Depression Inventory-Ⅱ (BDI-Ⅱ) scores and emotional factor scores of Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire (SDQ) for students. After Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip Kit was used to interrogate over 850k methylation sites, those with P < 0.05 and the absolute value difference of methylation β value greater than 0.1 (|△β| >0.1) were selected as the differential methylation sites. Gene Ontology (GO) functional annotation analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis, as well as protein-protein interaction (PPI) network were performed to identify important genes associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) and their methylation changes. Results Three pairs of identical twin adolescents with different depressive phenotypes were divided into depressive phenotype group and normal phenotype group. A total of 57 genes with different methylation levels were screened between the 2 groups, including 45 genes with increased and 12 genes with decreased DNA methylation levels. GO analysis showed that differential genes were most significantly enriched in biological processes such as central nervous system development and regulation of RNA metabolic process. KEGG analysis indicated that differential genes were significantly enriched in synaptic long-term depression (LTD), PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and TNF signaling pathway. Besides, direct or indirect interactions between RHOA and several differential methylated genes were found in PPI network. Conclusion Changes in DNA methylation levels of CSF1R, NOS1, AHR and other genes in peripheral blood of identical twins with different depressive phenotypes may regulate gene expression through synaptic long-term depression (LTD), PI3C-Akt and other signaling pathways involved in the occurrence of depression.

Objective We aimed to investigate changes in whole-brain gray matter volumes (GMVs) before and after electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) and suicidal ideation (SI). Methods Thirty adolescents with MDD and SI were observed, and structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) was performed at baseline and after ECT for each patient. But Twenty-five healthy controls (HCs) were scanned only at baseline. The voxel-based morphometry (VBM) techniques were used to examine GMVs. Results Compared with HCs, MDDs at baseline showed decreased GMVs in the left middle temporal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, left precuneus, right precuneus, and left superior frontal gyrus. After ECT, MDDs showed increased GMVs in the right superior frontal gyrus and right superior temporal gyrus. Pearson’s correlation found that Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSSI) scores at baseline were negatively correlated with GMVs in the left superior frontal gyrus and HAMD and BSSI scores after ECT were negatively correlated with GMVs in the right superior temporal gyrus. Conclusion Frontal–temporal–precuneus structure changes may be a potential cause of depressive and suicidal symptoms in adolescents. ECT may improve depressive and suicidal symptoms in adolescents by regulating brain structures to compensate original defects.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective therapy for many psychiatric illnesses. However, intracranial occupying lesions are a relative contraindication to ECT. Arachnoid cysts are benign, congenital, and space-occupying lesions. Our study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of ECT in psychiatric patients with arachnoid cysts. We retrospectively identified 62 psychiatric patients with arachnoid cysts; 43 of them underwent ECT and 19 did not. Their conditions were assessed by CGI-S and different scales depending on different diagnoses (PANSS for schizophrenia; HAMD for depression; YMRS for bipolar disorder). The side effect was assessed by TESS. Significant differences were shown in the reduced scores of the CGI-S between patients who underwent ECT and those who did not (p = 0.001), while, at the same time, there was no significant difference in their TESS score (p = 0.297). The current study found that ECT is an effective and tolerable therapy for psychiatric patients with arachnoid cysts.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most widespread mental disorders and can result in suicide. Suicidal ideation (SI) is strongly predictive of death by suicide, and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective for MDD, especially in patients with SI. In the present study, we aimed to determine differences in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in 14 adolescents aged 12–17 with MDD and SI at baseline and after ECT. All participants were administered the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSSI) and received rs-fMRI scans at baseline and after ECT. Following ECT, the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and fractional ALFF (fALFF) significantly decreased in the right precentral gyrus, and the degree centrality (DC) decreased in the left triangular part of the inferior frontal gyrus and increased in the left hippocampus. There were significant negative correlations between the change of HAMD (ΔHAMD) and ALFF in the right precentral gyrus at baseline, and between the change of BSSI and the change of fALFF in the right precentral gyrus. The ΔHAMD was positively correlated with the DC value of the left hippocampus at baseline. We suggest that these brain regions may be indicators of response to ECT in adolescents with MDD and SI.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is one of the most effective treatments for major depression disorder (MDD). ECT can induce neurogenesis and synaptogenesis in hippocampus, which contains distinct subfields, e.g., the cornu ammonis (CA) subfields, a granule cell layer (GCL), a molecular layer (ML), and the subiculum. It is unclear which subfields are affected by ECT and whether we predict the future treatment response to ECT by using volumetric information of hippocampal subfields at baseline? In this study, 24 patients with severe MDD received the ECT and their structural brain images were acquired with magnetic resonance imaging before and after ECT. A state-of-the-art hippocampal segmentation algorithm from Freesurfer 6.0 was used. We found that ECT induced volume increases in CA subfields, GCL, ML and subiculum. We applied a machine learning algorithm to the hippocampal subfield volumes at baseline and were able to predict the change in depressive symptoms (r = 0.81; within remitters, r = 0.93). Receiver operating characteristic analysis also showed robust prediction of remission with an area under the curve of 0.90. Our findings provide evidence for particular hippocampal subfields having specific roles in the response to ECT. We also provide an analytic approach for generating predictions about clinical outcomes for ECT in MDD.

An aptamer based liquid crystal biosensor was firstly developed for sulfadimethoxine detection achieving a lower detection limit of 10 μg L−1.

The work describes a simplified method for the preparation of liquid crystal (LC) bioassay using DNA-based capture molecules and having lower detection limits. The capture DNA probes of the stem-loop structure were immobilized on the surface of a glass slide. A homeotropic orientation of LC molecules can be obtained with the proper surface coverage of capture DNA probes. In the presence of analytes (specifically shown here for the progesterone as a model analyte), the molecular binding between capture DNA probes and progesterone opens the loop of the capture DNA probes. The opened sequence is then amenable to hybridization with a reporter DNA probe that is immobilized on gold nanoparticles. This changes the surface microstructure, disrupts the orientation of LC molecules, and results in an enhanced optical response, expressed as the average grey value of the images. This new kind of surface treatment for simultaneous recognition of target molecules and homeotropic anchoring of LCs reduces the number of preparation steps and makes the process of LC bioassay easier. This method has a detection limit as low as 0.1 pmol·L−1 of progesterone.

PURPOSE:To investigate the efficacy and safety of saffron in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in comparison to placebo and synthetic antidepressants.PATIENTS AND METHODS:We conducted a systematic search in several electronic databases as well as manual search in bibliographies of relevant studies. We included randomized controlled trials that investigated the efficacy and safety of saffron for treating MDD in adults in comparison to either placebo or synthetic antidepressants. Primary outcome was change in scores on depressive symptoms from baseline. Secondary outcomes included remission rate, response rate, and drop-out rate for all reasons. We chose a random-effects model in order to obtain more conservative results. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated as the overall effect index by inverse variance models.RESULTS:Seven studies were included in this meta-analysis. Overall quality of these included studies was moderate. As for the primary outcome, saffron showed more improvements in depression symptoms when compared with placebo, with an SMD of -1.22 (95% CI -1.94, -0.49, P=0.001). Meanwhile, saffron was as effective as synthetic antidepressants, with an SMD of 0.16 (95% CI -0.25, 0.57, P=0.44). Moderate heterogeneity existed in our analysis. Through subgroup analyses, we found that treatment dosage and duration, types of synthetic antidepressants administered in the comparison group, and outcome measures could explain most of the variance. No differences were found in remission rate, response rate, or drop-out rate.CONCLUSION:Saffron was effective in the treatment of MDD and had comparable efficacy to synthetic antidepressants. Saffron was also a safe drug without serious adverse events reported.

Schizophrenia patients are at high risk for cigarette smoking, but the neurobiological mechanisms of this comorbid association are relatively unknown. Long-term nicotine intake may impact brain that are independently and additively associated with schizophrenia. We investigated whether altered intrinsic brain activity (iBA) related to schizophrenia pathology is also associated with nicotine addiction. Forty-two schizophrenia patients (21 smokers and 21 nonsmokers) and 21 sex- and age-matched healthy nonsmokers underwent task-free functional MRI. Whole brain iBA was measured by the amplitude of spontaneous low frequency fluctuation. Furthermore, correlation analyses between iBA, symptom severity and nicotine addiction severity were performed. We found that prefrontal cortex, right caudate, and right postcentral gyrus were related to both disease and nicotine addiction effects. More importantly, schizophrenia smokers, compared to schizophrenia nonsmokers showed reversed iBA in the above brain regions. In addition, schizophrenia smokers, relative to nonsmokers, altered iBA in the left striatal and motor cortices. The iBA of the right caudate was negatively correlated with symptom severity. The iBA of the right postcentral gyrus negatively correlated with nicotine addiction severity. The striatal and motor cortices could potentially increase the vulnerability of smoking in schizophrenia. More importantly, smoking reversed iBA in the right striatal and prefrontal cortices, consistent with the self-medication theory in schizophrenia. Smoking altered left striatal and motor cortices activity, suggesting that the nicotine addiction effect was independent of disease. These results provide a local property of intrinsic brain activity mechanism that contributes to cigarette smoking and schizophrenia.