SSRIs in the course of COVID-19 pneumonia: Evidence of effectiveness of antidepressants on acute inflammation. A retrospective study.

INTRODUCTION: Relationships between inflammation and mood have been observed in terms of pro-inflammatory effects induced by depressive conditions and, in parallel, by an antidepressant-induced favorable effect on the recovery of inflammatory states. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drugs were hypothesized to improve the prognosis of COVID-19 pneumonia, a typical acute inflammation, in terms of decreased mortality rate and pro-inflammatory cytokine serum levels. METHODS: The medical records of COVID-19 pneumonia inpatients at Careggi University Hospital (Florence) were analyzed for prognosis and Interleukin 6 (IL-6) after admission for over a period of 22 months. Medical records of patients treated at admission and not discontinued until discharge with an SSRI or with vortioxetine were identified. Two groups, one treated with antidepressants, the other not treated, were evaluated according to the mentioned parameters. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression were performed. RESULTS: The entire sample composed of 1236 records (recovered patients 77.1%, deceased patients 22.9%). The treated group (n = 107) had a better prognosis than the untreated group in spite of age and comorbidity both being greater than in the untreated group. Correspondingly, IL-6 levels in the treated group were significantly lower (p < 0.01) than the levels in the untreated group, in every comparison. CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes of this study support the hypothesis of the favorable influence of some antidepressants on the prognosis of COVID-19, possibly mediated by IL-6 modulation. Reduction in acute inflammation induced by the action of antidepressants was confirmed.

Pregorexia: a systematic review and meta-analysis on the constructs of body image dissatisfaction and eating disturbances by gestational age in the peripartum.

PURPOSE: Pregorexia is a phenomenon posited to occur in the peripartum, characterized by an attempt to counter pregnancy's physiological changes in body shape through reduced calorie intake or increased physical activity. METHODS: In this pre-registered systematic review and meta-analysis, body image dissatisfaction and eating psychopathology in the peripartum according to gestational age were formally assessed. PubMed was searched up to May 2023. Selection criteria were represented by studies on body image concerns or eating psychopathology in the peripartum (up to 1 year after delivery). The population needed to include women from the general population or among patients with a history of (or current) eating disorder. For the meta-analysis, 17 studies were included: 10 for body image dissatisfaction (2625 individuals overall), 7 for eating behaviors (2551 individuals overall). The interplay between body image and the following themes was examined in depth: the adoption of breastfeeding, peripartum depression, sociocultural influences on body image, sexual disturbances, experiencing or reporting an altered food intake. RESULTS: Progressive dissatisfaction with body image during pregnancy by gestational age was observed, stably elevated for at least 12 months postpartum. Eating psychopathology was observed as elevated only at 12 months in the postpartum, but not during pregnancy. DISCUSSION: The current work offers normative values of body image satisfaction and eating psychopathology in the peripartum by gestational age. The relevance of current results was discussed, in order to inform both current clinical practice and future public policies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level I-Evidence obtained from: systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Aberrant Salience Inventory: A meta-analysis to investigate its psychometric properties and identify screening cutoff scores.

INTRODUCTION: The Aberrant Salience Inventory (ASI) is a useful tool to measure salience abnormalities among the general population. There is strong clinical and scientific evidence that salience alteration is linked to psychosis. To the present day, no meta-analysis evaluating ASI's psychometric properties and screening potential has been published. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Embase were searched using terms including "psychosis," "schizophrenia," and "Aberrant Salience Inventory." Observational and experimental studies employing ASI on populations of non-psychotic controls and patients with psychosis were included. ASI scores and other demographic measures (age, gender, ethnicity) were extracted as outcomes. Individual patients' data (IPD) were collected. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on the IPD. RESULTS: Eight articles were finally included in the meta-analysis. ASI scores differ significantly between psychotic and non-psychotic populations; a novel three-factor model is proposed regarding subscales structure. Theoretical positive predictive values (PPVs) and negative predictive values (NPVs) were calculated and presented together with different cutoff points depending on preselected specific populations of interest. DISCUSSION: PPV and NPV values reached levels adequate for ASI to be considered a viable screening tool for psychosis. The factor analysis highlights the presence of a novel subscale that was named "Unveiling experiences." Implications regarding the meaning of the new factor structure are discussed, as well as ASI's potential as a screening tool.

Emotional dysregulation, alexithymia and neuroticism: a systematic review on the genetic basis of a subset of psychological traits.

Neuroticism, alexithymia and emotion dysregulation are key traits and known risk factors for several psychiatric conditions. In this systematic review, the aim is to evaluate the genetic contribution to these psychological phenotypes. A systematic review of articles found in PubMed was conducted. Search terms included 'genetic', 'GWAS', 'neuroticism', 'alexithymia' and 'emotion dysregulation'. Risk of bias was assessed utilizing the STREGA checklist. Two hundred two papers were selected from existing literature based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Among these, 27 were genome-wide studies and 175 were genetic association studies. Single gene association studies focused on selected groups of genes, mostly involved in neurotransmission, with conflicting results. GWAS studies on neuroticism, on the other hand, found several relevant and replicated intergenic and intronic loci affecting the expression and regulation of crucial and well-known genes (such as DRD2 and CRHR1). Mutations in genes coding for trascriptional factors were also found to be associated with neuroticism (DCC, XKR6, TCF4, RBFOX1), as well as a noncoding regulatory RNA (LINC00461). On the other hand, little GWAS data are available on alexythima and emotional dysregulation.