Serotonin engages an anxiety and fear-promoting circuit in the extended amygdala
Nature
Abstract
Serotonin (also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)) is a neurotransmitter that has an essential role in the regulation of emotion. However, the precise circuits have not yet been defined through which aversive states are orchestrated by 5-HT. Here we show that 5-HT from the dorsal raphe nucleus (5-HTDRN) enhances fear and anxiety and activates a subpopulation of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (CRFBNST) in mice. Specifically, 5-HTDRN projections to the BNST, via actions at 5-HT2C receptors (5-HT2CRs), engage a CRFBNST inhibitory microcircuit that silences anxiolytic BNST outputs to the ventral tegmental area and lateral hypothalamus. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this CRFBNST inhibitory circuit underlies aversive behaviour following acute exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). This early aversive effect is mediated via the corticotrophin-releasing factor type 1 receptor (CRF1R, also known as CRHR1), given that CRF1R antagonism is sufficient to prevent acute SSRI-induced enhancements in aversive learning. These results reveal an essential 5-HTDRN→CRFBNST circuit governing fear and anxiety, and provide a potential mechanistic explanation for the clinical observation of early adverse events to SSRI treatment in some patients with anxiety disorders.
Esketamine Receives Breakthrough Therapy Designation from U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Major Depressive Disorder with Imminent Risk for Suicide
Johnson & Johnson
FDA action marks second Breakthrough Therapy Designation for intranasal esketamine, highlighting its potential as treatment for patients with major depressive disorder who are at imminent risk for suicide and for those with treatment-resistant depression
Janssen Research & Development, LLC, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted a Breakthrough Therapy Designation for esketamine, an investigational antidepressant medication, for the indication of major depressive disorder with imminent risk for suicide. If approved by the FDA, esketamine would be one of the first new approaches to treat major depressive disorder available to patients in the last 50 years.
This also marks the second time esketamine has received a Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. regulatory authority. Esketamine was first granted this designation for treatment-resistant depression in November 2013. Breakthrough Therapy Designation is intended to expedite development and review timelines when preliminary clinical evidence indicates the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement on one or more clinically significant endpoints over available therapies for serious or life-threatening conditions.
The esketamine Phase 2 clinical trial data presented by Janssen in May 2016 at the Society of Biological Psychiatry 71st Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, provided preliminary clinical evidence to support the Breakthrough Therapy Designation for major depressive disorder with imminent risk for suicide.
Janssen Research & Development, LLC, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted a Breakthrough Therapy Designation for esketamine, an investigational antidepressant medication, for the indication of major depressive disorder with imminent risk for suicide. If approved by the FDA, esketamine would be one of the first new approaches to treat major depressive disorder available to patients in the last 50 years.
This also marks the second time esketamine has received a Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. regulatory authority. Esketamine was first granted this designation for treatment-resistant depression in November 2013. Breakthrough Therapy Designation is intended to expedite development and review timelines when preliminary clinical evidence indicates the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement on one or more clinically significant endpoints over available therapies for serious or life-threatening conditions.
The esketamine Phase 2 clinical trial data presented by Janssen in May 2016 at the Society of Biological Psychiatry 71st Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, provided preliminary clinical evidence to support the Breakthrough Therapy Designation for major depressive disorder with imminent risk for suicide.
Read more: http://www.jnj.com/news/
Hypnotic Medications and Suicide: Risk, Mechanisms, Mitigation, and the FDA
The American Journal of Psychiatry
Abstract
Abstract
Objective
Insomnia is associated with increased risk for suicide. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has mandated that warnings regarding suicide be included in the prescribing information for hypnotic medications. The authors conducted a review of the evidence for and against the claim that hypnotics increase the risk of suicide.Method
This review focused on modern, FDA-approved hypnotics, beginning with the introduction of benzodiazepines, limiting its findings to adults. PubMed and Web of Science were searched, crossing the terms “suicide” and “suicidal” with each of the modern FDA-approved hypnotics. The FDA web site was searched for postmarketing safety reviews, and the FDA was contacted with requests to provide detailed case reports for hypnotic-related suicide deaths reported through its Adverse Event Reporting System.
Results
Epidemiological studies show that hypnotics are associated with an increased risk for suicide. However, none of these studies adequately controlled for depression or other psychiatric disorders that may be linked with insomnia. Suicide deaths have been reported from single-agent hypnotic overdoses. A separate concern is that benzodiazepine receptor agonist hypnotics can cause parasomnias, which in rare cases may lead to suicidal ideation or suicidal behavior in persons who were not known to be suicidal. On the other hand, ongoing research is testing whether treatment of insomnia may reduce suicidality in adults with depression.
Conclusions
The review findings indicate that hypnotic medications are associated with suicidal ideation. Future studies should be designed to assess whether increases in suicidality result from CNS impairments from a given hypnotic medication or whether such medication decreases suicidality because of improvements in insomnia.
Source: http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/
Association of Hormonal Contraception With Depression
JAMA Psychiatry
Importance
Millions of women worldwide use hormonal contraception. Despite the clinical evidence of an influence of hormonal contraception on some women’s mood, associations between the use of hormonal contraception and mood disturbances remain inadequately addressed.
Objective
To investigate whether the use of hormonal contraception is positively associated with subsequent use of antidepressants and a diagnosis of depression at a psychiatric hospital.
Design, Setting, and Participants
This nationwide prospective cohort study combined data from the National Prescription Register and the Psychiatric Central Research Register in Denmark. All women and adolescents aged 15 to 34 years who were living in Denmark were followed up from January 1, 2000, to December 2013, if they had no prior depression diagnosis, redeemed prescription for antidepressants, other major psychiatric diagnosis, cancer, venous thrombosis, or infertility treatment. Data were collected from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 2013, and analyzed from January 1, 2015, through April 1, 2016.
Exposures
Use of different types of hormonal contraception.
Main Outcomes and Measures
With time-varying covariates, adjusted incidence rate ratios (RRs) were calculated for first use of an antidepressant and first diagnosis of depression at a psychiatric hospital.
Results
A total of 1 061 997 women (mean [SD] age, 24.4 [0.001] years; mean [SD] follow-up, 6.4 [0.004] years) were included in the analysis. Compared with nonusers, users of combined oral contraceptives had an RR of first use of an antidepressant of 1.23 (95% CI, 1.22-1.25). Users of progestogen-only pills had an RR for first use of an antidepressant of 1.34 (95% CI, 1.27-1.40); users of a patch (norgestrolmin), 2.0 (95% CI, 1.76-2.18); users of a vaginal ring (etonogestrel), 1.6 (95% CI, 1.55-1.69); and users of a levonorgestrel intrauterine system, 1.4 (95% CI, 1.31-1.42). For depression diagnoses, similar or slightly lower estimates were found. The relative risks generally decreased with increasing age. Adolescents (age range, 15-19 years) using combined oral contraceptives had an RR of a first use of an antidepressant of 1.8 (95% CI, 1.75-1.84) and those using progestin-only pills, 2.2 (95% CI, 1.99-2.52). Six months after starting use of hormonal contraceptives, the RR of antidepressant use peaked at 1.4 (95% CI, 1.34-1.46). When the reference group was changed to those who never used hormonal contraception, the RR estimates for users of combined oral contraceptives increased to 1.7 (95% CI, 1.66-1.71).
Conclusions and Relevance
Use of hormonal contraception, especially among adolescents, was associated with subsequent use of antidepressants and a first diagnosis of depression, suggesting depression as a potential adverse effect of hormonal contraceptive use.
Objective
To investigate whether the use of hormonal contraception is positively associated with subsequent use of antidepressants and a diagnosis of depression at a psychiatric hospital.
Design, Setting, and Participants
This nationwide prospective cohort study combined data from the National Prescription Register and the Psychiatric Central Research Register in Denmark. All women and adolescents aged 15 to 34 years who were living in Denmark were followed up from January 1, 2000, to December 2013, if they had no prior depression diagnosis, redeemed prescription for antidepressants, other major psychiatric diagnosis, cancer, venous thrombosis, or infertility treatment. Data were collected from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 2013, and analyzed from January 1, 2015, through April 1, 2016.
Exposures
Use of different types of hormonal contraception.
Main Outcomes and Measures
With time-varying covariates, adjusted incidence rate ratios (RRs) were calculated for first use of an antidepressant and first diagnosis of depression at a psychiatric hospital.
Results
A total of 1 061 997 women (mean [SD] age, 24.4 [0.001] years; mean [SD] follow-up, 6.4 [0.004] years) were included in the analysis. Compared with nonusers, users of combined oral contraceptives had an RR of first use of an antidepressant of 1.23 (95% CI, 1.22-1.25). Users of progestogen-only pills had an RR for first use of an antidepressant of 1.34 (95% CI, 1.27-1.40); users of a patch (norgestrolmin), 2.0 (95% CI, 1.76-2.18); users of a vaginal ring (etonogestrel), 1.6 (95% CI, 1.55-1.69); and users of a levonorgestrel intrauterine system, 1.4 (95% CI, 1.31-1.42). For depression diagnoses, similar or slightly lower estimates were found. The relative risks generally decreased with increasing age. Adolescents (age range, 15-19 years) using combined oral contraceptives had an RR of a first use of an antidepressant of 1.8 (95% CI, 1.75-1.84) and those using progestin-only pills, 2.2 (95% CI, 1.99-2.52). Six months after starting use of hormonal contraceptives, the RR of antidepressant use peaked at 1.4 (95% CI, 1.34-1.46). When the reference group was changed to those who never used hormonal contraception, the RR estimates for users of combined oral contraceptives increased to 1.7 (95% CI, 1.66-1.71).
Conclusions and Relevance
Use of hormonal contraception, especially among adolescents, was associated with subsequent use of antidepressants and a first diagnosis of depression, suggesting depression as a potential adverse effect of hormonal contraceptive use.
Source: http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/
IDENTIFICATION OF 15 GENETIC LOCI ASSOCIATED WITH RISK OF MAJOR DEPRESSION IN INDIVIDUALS OF EUROPEAN DESCENT
Nature Genetics
Neurometabolic Disorders: Potentially Treatable Abnormalities in Patients With Treatment-Refractory Depression and Suicidal Behavior
The American Journal of Psychiatry
Objective
Treatment-refractory depression is a devastating condition with significant morbidity, mortality, and societal cost. At least 15% of cases of major depressive disorder remain refractory to treatment. The authors previously identified a young adult with treatment-refractory depression and multiple suicide attempts with an associated severe deficiency of CSF tetrahydrobiopterin, a critical cofactor for monoamine neurotransmitter synthesis. Treatment with sapropterin, a tetrahydrobiopterin analogue, led to dramatic and long-lasting remission of depression. This sentinel case led the authors to hypothesize that the incidence of metabolic abnormalities contributing to treatment-refractory depression is underrecognized.Method
The authors conducted a case-control, targeted, metabolomic evaluation of 33 adolescent and young adult patients with well-characterized histories of treatment-refractory depression (at least three maximum-dose, adequate-duration medication treatments), and 16 healthy comparison subjects. Plasma, urine, and CSF metabolic profiling were performed by coupled gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.
Results
CSF metabolite abnormalities were identified in 21 of the 33 participants with treatment-refractory depression. Cerebral folate deficiency (N=12) was most common, with normal serum folate levels and low CSF 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) levels. All patients with cerebral folate deficiency, including one with low CSF levels of 5-MTHF and tetrahydrobiopterin intermediates, showed improvement in depression symptom inventories after treatment with folinic acid; the patient with low tetrahydrobiopterin also received sapropterin. None of the healthy comparison subjects had a metabolite abnormality.
Conclusions
Examination of metabolic disorders in treatment-refractory depression identified an unexpectedly large proportion of patients with potentially treatable abnormalities. The etiology of these abnormalities remains to be determined.
Source: http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/
Association of the Sweet-Liking Phenotype and Craving for Alcohol With the Response to Naltrexone Treatment in Alcohol Dependence
JAMA Psychiatry
Abstract
Importance
Objective
To investigate the preliminary finding that the sweet-liking (SL) phenotype interacts with a high level of craving for alcohol and is associated with an improved response to naltrexone in alcohol dependence.
Design, Setting, and Participants
This 12-week double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted from February 1, 2010, to April 30, 2012, in an academic outpatient medical center. Eighty actively drinking patients were randomized by the SL (n = 22) or the sweet-disliking (SDL) (n = 58) phenotype and by pretreatment high (n = 40) or low (n = 40) craving for alcohol, with high craving defined as greater than the median. Patients and staff were blinded to categorization. Patients were excluded for unstable medical or psychiatric illness, including dependence on drugs other than nicotine. Four patients (2 in the placebo arm and 2 in the naltrexone arm) stopped medication therapy because of adverse effects. Data were analyzed from January 15, 2013, to May 15, 2016, based on intention to treat.
Interventions
Oral naltrexone hydrochloride, 50 mg/d, or daily placebo with weekly to biweekly brief counseling.
Main Outcomes and Measures
The a priori hypothesis tested SL/SDL phenotype, pretreatment craving, and their interaction as moderators of frequency of abstinent and heavy drinking days during treatment, assessed with the timeline follow-back method.
Results
Eighty patients were randomized (57 men [71%]; 23 women [29%]; mean [SD] age, 47.0 [8.6] years). A nonsignificant effect of naltrexone on heavy drinking was noted (4.8 fewer heavy drinking days; Cohen d = 0.45; 95% CI, −0.01 to 0.90; F1,67 = 3.52; P = .07). The SL phenotype moderated the effect of naltrexone on heavy drinking (6.1 fewer heavy drinking days; Cohen d = 0.58; 95% CI, 0.12-1.03; F1,67 = 5.65; P = .02) and abstinence (10.0 more abstinent days; Cohen d = 0.57; 95% CI, 0.11-1.02; F1,67 = 5.36; P = .02), and high craving moderated heavy drinking (7.1 fewer heavy drinking days; Cohen d = 0.66; 95% CI, 0.20-1.11; F1,67 = 7.37; P = .008). The combination of the SL phenotype and high craving was associated with a strong response to naltrexone, with 17.1 fewer heavy drinking days (Cohen d = 1.07; 95% CI, 0.58-1.54; F1,67 = 19.33; P < .001) and 28.8 more abstinent days (Cohen d = 0.72; 95% CI, 0.25-1.17; F1,67 = 8.73; P = .004) compared with placebo.
Conclusions and Relevance
The SL phenotype and a high craving for alcohol independently and particularly in combination are associated with a positive response to naltrexone. The SL/SDL phenotype and a high craving for alcohol merit further investigation as factors to identify patients with alcohol dependence who are responsive to naltrexone.
Meditation and vacation effects have an impact on disease-associated molecular phenotypes
Translational Psychiatry
Abstract
Meditation is becoming increasingly practiced, especially for stress-related medical conditions. Meditation may improve cellular health; however, studies have not separated out effects of meditation from vacation-like effects in a residential randomized controlled trial. We recruited healthy women non-meditators to live at a resort for 6 days and randomized to either meditation retreat or relaxing on-site, with both groups compared with ‘regular meditators’ already enrolled in the retreat. Blood drawn at baseline and post intervention was assessed for transcriptome-wide expression patterns and aging-related biomarkers. Highly significant gene expression changes were detected across all groups (the ‘vacation effect’) that could accurately predict (96% accuracy) between baseline and post-intervention states and were characterized by improved regulation of stress response, immune function and amyloid beta (Aβ) metabolism. Although a smaller set of genes was affected, regular meditators showed post-intervention differences in a gene network characterized by lower regulation of protein synthesis and viral genome activity. Changes in well-being were assessed post intervention relative to baseline, as well as 1 and 10 months later. All groups showed equivalently large immediate post-intervention improvements in well-being, but novice meditators showed greater maintenance of lower distress over time compared with those in the vacation arm. Regular meditators showed a trend toward increased telomerase activity compared with randomized women, who showed increased plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 ratios and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels. This highly controlled residential study showed large salutary changes in gene expression networks due to the vacation effect, common to all groups. For those already trained in the practice of meditation, a retreat appears to provide additional benefits to cellular health beyond the vacation effect.
Source: http://www.nature.com/tp/
Prediction of transition from ultra-high risk to first-episode psychosis using a probabilistic model combining history, clinical assessment and fatty-acid biomarkers
Translational Psychiatry
Abstract
Current criteria identifying patients with ultra-high risk of psychosis (UHR) have low specificity, and less than one-third of UHR cases experience transition to psychosis within 3 years of initial assessment. We explored whether a Bayesian probabilistic multimodal model, combining baseline historical and clinical risk factors with biomarkers (oxidative stress, cell membrane fatty acids, resting quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG)), could improve this specificity. We analyzed data of a UHR cohort (n=40) with a 1-year transition rate of 28%. Positive and negative likelihood ratios were calculated for predictor variables with statistically significant receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs), which excluded oxidative stress markers and qEEG parameters as significant predictors of transition. We clustered significant variables into historical (history of drug use), clinical (Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale positive, negative and general scores and Global Assessment of Function) and biomarker (total omega-3, nervonic acid) groups, and calculated the post-test probability of transition for each group and for group combinations using the odds ratio form of Bayes’ rule. Combination of the three variable groups vastly improved the specificity of prediction (area under ROC=0.919, sensitivity=72.73%, specificity=96.43%). In this sample, our model identified over 70% of UHR patients who transitioned within 1 year, compared with 28% identified by standard UHR criteria. The model classified 77% of cases as very high or low risk (P>0.9, <0.1) based on history and clinical assessment, suggesting that a staged approach could be most efficient, reserving fatty-acid markers for 23% of cases remaining at intermediate probability following bedside interview.
Incidence of Depression After Stroke, and Associated Risk Factors and Mortality Outcomes, in a Large Cohort of Danish Patients
JAMA Psychiatry
Importance
More than 30 million people live with a stroke diagnosis worldwide. Depression after stroke is frequent, and greater knowledge of associated risk factors and outcomes is needed to understand the etiology and implications of this disabling complication.
Objectives
To examine whether the incidence of and risk factors for depression differ between patients with stroke and a reference population without stroke and to assess how depression influences mortality.
Design, Setting, and Participants
Register-based cohort study in Denmark. Participants were all individuals 15 years or older with a first-time hospitalization for stroke between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2011 (n = 157 243), and a reference population (n = 160 236) matched on age, sex, and municipality. The data were analyzed between January and March 2016.
Main Outcomes and Measures
The incidence of depression and mortality outcomes of depression (defined by hospital discharge diagnoses or antidepressant medication use) were examined using Cox proportional hazards regression analyses.
Results
In total, 34 346 patients (25.4%) with stroke and 11 330 (7.8%) in the reference population experienced depression within 2 years after study entry. Compared with the reference population, patients with stroke had a higher incidence of depression during the first 3 months after hospitalization (hazard ratio for stroke vs the reference population, 8.99; 95% CI, 8.61-9.39), which declined during the second year of follow-up (hazard ratio for stroke vs the reference population, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.85-2.08). Significant risk factors for depression for patients with stroke and the reference population included older age, female sex, single cohabitation status, basic educational attainment, diabetes, high level of somatic comorbidity, history of depression, and stroke severity (in patients with stroke). The associations were strongest for the reference population. In both populations, depressed individuals, especially those with new onset, had increased all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for new-onset depression, 1.89 [95% CI, 1.83-1.95] for patients with stroke and 3.75 [95% CI, 3.51-4.00] for the reference population) after adjustment for confounders. Similar patterns were found for natural and unnatural causes of death. In most models, the depression-related relative mortality was approximately twice as high in the reference population vs the stroke population.
Conclusions and Relevance More than 30 million people live with a stroke diagnosis worldwide. Depression after stroke is frequent, and greater knowledge of associated risk factors and outcomes is needed to understand the etiology and implications of this disabling complication.
Objectives
To examine whether the incidence of and risk factors for depression differ between patients with stroke and a reference population without stroke and to assess how depression influences mortality.
Design, Setting, and Participants
Register-based cohort study in Denmark. Participants were all individuals 15 years or older with a first-time hospitalization for stroke between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2011 (n = 157 243), and a reference population (n = 160 236) matched on age, sex, and municipality. The data were analyzed between January and March 2016.
Main Outcomes and Measures
The incidence of depression and mortality outcomes of depression (defined by hospital discharge diagnoses or antidepressant medication use) were examined using Cox proportional hazards regression analyses.
Results
In total, 34 346 patients (25.4%) with stroke and 11 330 (7.8%) in the reference population experienced depression within 2 years after study entry. Compared with the reference population, patients with stroke had a higher incidence of depression during the first 3 months after hospitalization (hazard ratio for stroke vs the reference population, 8.99; 95% CI, 8.61-9.39), which declined during the second year of follow-up (hazard ratio for stroke vs the reference population, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.85-2.08). Significant risk factors for depression for patients with stroke and the reference population included older age, female sex, single cohabitation status, basic educational attainment, diabetes, high level of somatic comorbidity, history of depression, and stroke severity (in patients with stroke). The associations were strongest for the reference population. In both populations, depressed individuals, especially those with new onset, had increased all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for new-onset depression, 1.89 [95% CI, 1.83-1.95] for patients with stroke and 3.75 [95% CI, 3.51-4.00] for the reference population) after adjustment for confounders. Similar patterns were found for natural and unnatural causes of death. In most models, the depression-related relative mortality was approximately twice as high in the reference population vs the stroke population.
Depression is common in patients with stroke during the first year after diagnosis, and those with prior depression or severe stroke are especially at risk. Because a large number of deaths can be attributable to depression after stroke, clinicians should be aware of this risk.
Online Journals:
Molecular Psychiatry - Volume 21, Issue 10, October 2016
Biological Psychiatry - Volume 80, Issue 7, October 2016
