INFLUENCE OF THE SEROTONERGIC SYSTEM POLYMORPHISM ON THE EXPRESSION OF DENTAL ANXIETY.

- The aim of the study was to test the correlation between 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and dental anxiety. Research hypothesis was that positive relation between the expression of dental anxiety and the S allele exists in the population of healthy Caucasians. We conducted a prospective study on 159 subjects, volunteers made up of medical and non-medical staff of the Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Centre. Both genders were included, age range 19 to 59, mentally and physically healthy (according to DSM-5 classification of mental disorders). For the purpose of this research, we used a sociodemographic questionnaire containing the following information: age, gender, education level, work status, marital status and residence. Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale-Revised (DAS-R) was used to measure dental anxiety. Data distribution was tested by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, difference between the groups by ?χ2-test and one-way analysis of variance, and correlation of variables by logistic regression. In the study population, we found positive correlation between S-allele and total result in DAS-R questionnaire. The presence of S allele suggests that the person will have a higher result in DAS-R questionnaire, i.e. higher expression of dental anxiety.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among patients with major depressive disorder--differences between newly diagnosed first episode and recurrent disease.

The objective of the present study was to assess differences in prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among depressed patients in regard to the duration of the illness (first episode versus recurrent episodes). A total of 190 patients suffering from major depressive disorder were included in the study, diagnosed according to International classification of disorders, 10th revision. The same criteria were used to divide participants into two groups: first episode major depressive disorder and major depressive disorder with recurrent episodes. The metabolic syndrome was defined according to the criteria of the American National Cholesterol Education Program-Treatment Panel III. Results showed that metabolic syndrome is significantly more prevalent in patients with recurrent major depressive disorder (45.2%) compared to patients with first episode of major depressive disorder (27.3%), mainly due to differences in plasma glucose, triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol levels. These findings indicate the importance of the duration of depression and the number of recurring episodes as factors involved in etiopathogenesis of the associated metabolic syndrome.