The relationship between anxiety symptoms and disturbances in biological rhythms in patients with depression.

BACKGROUND: Biological rhythms denote the cyclical patterns of life activities anchored to a 24-hour cycle. Research shows that depression exhibits disturbances in biological rhythms. Yet, the relationship between these biological rhythms and concomitant anxiety symptoms is insufficiently investigated in structured clinical assessments. METHODS: This multicenter study, carried out in four Chinese hospitals, comprehensively examined the relationship between anxiety and disruptions in biological rhythms among patients with depression. The study encompassed 218 patients diagnosed with depression and 205 matched healthy controls. The Chinese version of the Biological Rhythms Interview of Assessment in Neuropsychiatry was utilized to evaluate the participants' biological rhythms, focusing on four dimensions: sleep, activity, social, and diet. RESULTS: In patients with depression, there is a significant positive correlation between the severity of anxiety symptoms and the disturbances in biological rhythms. The severity of anxiety and depression, along with the quality of life, are independently associated with disruptions in biological rhythms. The mediation model reveals that anxiety symptoms mediate the relationship between depressive symptoms and biological rhythms. CONCLUSION: This research highlights the role of anxiety within the spectrum of depressive disorders and the associated disturbances in biological rhythms. Our findings shed light on potential pathways towards more targeted preventive strategies and therapeutic interventions for individuals battling depression and anxiety.

Diagnostic Contribution of the DSM-5 Criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder.

Background: Internet gaming disorder (IGD) can have long-term severe consequences in affected individuals, especially adolescents and young people. Empirical studies of IGD using the DSM-5 criteria are still lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the contribution of specific criteria to the diagnosis of IGD based on the DSM-5 in the context of Chinese culture. Methods: The Chinese version of the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form (IGDS9-SF) was applied to investigate the prevalence of IGD in a general sample of 28,689 middle school students aged 12-19 years from two cities in China. Results: The prevalence of IGD was 4.6% among this adolescent sample. The group of IGD students reported longer weekly gaming times and worse academic performance than the group of non-IGD students. Although "preoccupation" and "playing to escape" were the most frequently reported criteria, the conditional inference trees showed that "give up other activities," 'negative consequences," and "continue despite problems" contributed most to the diagnosis of IGD based on the DSM-5. Conclusions: The prevalence of IGD among Chinese adolescents (ages 12-19) was 4.6%. This study provides evidence for retaining or deleting specific diagnostic criteria by the DSM framework in the future.

Erratum to: Changes of Serum Insulin-like Growth Factor-2 Response to Negative Symptom Improvements in Schizophrenia Patients Treated with Atypical Antipsychotics.

The article "Changes of Serum Insulin-like Growth Factor-2 Response to Negative Symptom Improvements in Schizophrenia Patients Treated with Atypical Antipsychotics", written by Xue-lin CHAO, Shu-zhen JIANG, Jian-wen XIONG, Jin-qiong ZHAN, Bo WEI, Chun-nuan CHEN, Yuan-jian YANG was originally published electronically on the publisher's internet portal on June 2020 without open access. With the author(s)' decision to opt for Open Choice, the copyright of the article is changed to © The Author(s) 2020 and the article is forthwith distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Changes of Serum Insulin-like Growth Factor-2 Response to Negative Symptom Improvements in Schizophrenia Patients Treated with Atypical Antipsychotics.

Accumulating evidence suggests that a disruption of early brain development, in which insulin-like growth factor-2 (IGF-2) has a crucial role, may underlie the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Our previous study has shown that decreased serum IGF-2 was correlated with the severity of psychopathology in patients with schizophrenia. Here we conducted a prospective observation trial to investigate the effects of atypical antipsychotics on serum IGF-2 level and its relationship with clinical improvements in schizophrenia patients. Thirty-one schizophrenia patients with acute exacerbation and 30 healthy individuals were recruited in this study. Psychiatric symptoms were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and serum IGF-2 levels were determined using ELISA. We found that schizophrenia patients with acute exacerbation had lower serum IGF-2 levels than control individuals at baseline (P<0.05). After 2 months of atypical antipsychotic treatment, a significant improvement in each PANSS subscore and total score was observed in patients (all P<0.01), and the serum IGF-2 levels of patients were significantly increased compared with those at baseline (203.13±64.62 vs. 426.99±124.26 ng/mL; t =-5.044, P<0.001). Correlation analysis revealed that the changes of serum IGF-2 levels in patients were significantly correlated with the improvements of negative symptoms (r=-0.522, P=0.006). Collectively, our findings demonstrated changes of serum IGF-2 response to improvements of negative symptoms in schizophrenia patients treated with atypical antipsychotics, suggesting that serum IGF-2 might be a treatment biomarker for schizophrenia.

The association between serum insulin-like growth factor 1 and cognitive impairments in patients with schizophrenia.

Accumulating evidence has shown that insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are implicated in schizophrenia. Altered serum levels of IGF-1 have been found in schizophrenia patients and are associated with psychopathological symptoms. However, whether there is a relationship between IGF-1 and cognitive impairment in schizophrenia remains unknown. Thirty schizophrenia patients and 26 healthy controls were recruited for this study. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale was adopted to assess schizophrenic symptoms, and a battery of neuropsychological tests was employed to evaluate cognitive function. Serum IGF-1 content was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We found that patients with schizophrenia performed more poorly than healthy controls in most cognitive tasks, excluding visual memory. The serum IGF-1 concentrations in schizophrenia patients were much lower than those in controls. Correlation analyses revealed that the levels of serum IGF-1 were positively correlated with executive function and attention scores in patients. Furthermore, IGF-1 was an independent contributor to deficits in executive function and attention among schizophrenia patients. Collectively, serum IGF-1 levels were significantly correlated with cognitive performance in schizophrenia patients, indicating that decreased IGF-1 levels might contribute to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia-associated cognitive impairments. The regulation of IGF-1 signaling might be a potential treatment strategy for cognitive impairments in schizophrenia.