The diagnostic utility of miRNA and elucidation of pathological mechanisms in major depressive disorder.

AIMS: Our study aims to explore how miRNAs can elucidate the molecular mechanisms of major depressive disorder (MDD) by comparing the miRNA levels in the blood serum of patients with depression and healthy individuals. It also explores the potential of miRNAs to differentiate between depressed patients and healthy controls. METHODS: 60 healthy controls (n = 45 females) were matched to 60 depressed patients (n = 10 unmedicated) for age (±7), sex, ethnicity, and years of education. Depression severity was measured using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and venous blood was collected using PAXgene Blood RNA tubes for miRNA profiling. To further identify the depression-related biological pathways that are influenced by differentially expressed miRNAs, networks were constructed using QIAGEN Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were also conducted to examine the discriminative ability of miRNAs to distinguish between depressed and healthy individuals. RESULTS: Six miRNAs (miR-542-3p, miR-181b-3p, miR-190a-5p, miR-33a-3p, miR-3690 and miR-6895-3p) showed to be considerably down-regulated in unmedicated depressed patients relative to healthy controls. miR-542-3p, in particular, also has experimentally verified mRNA targets that are predicted to be associated with MDD. ROC analyses found that a panel combining miR-542-3p, miR-181b-3p and miR-3690 produced an area under the curve value of 0.67 in distinguishing between depressed and healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS: miRNAs - most notably, miR-542-3p, miR-181b-3p and miR-3690 - may be biomarkers with targets that are implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. They could also be used to distinguish between depressed and healthy individuals with reasonable accuracy.

The effect of interventions on balance self-efficacy in the stroke population: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic review of clinical trials that examined the effectiveness of interventions on balance self-efficacy among individuals with stroke. DESIGN: Systematic review. SUMMARY OF REVIEW: Searches of the following databases were completed in December 2014: MEDLINE (1948-present), CINAHL (1982-present), EMBASE (1980-present) and PsycINFO (1987-present) for controlled clinical trials that measured balance self-efficacy in adults with stroke. Reference lists of selected articles were hand-searched to identify further relevant studies. REVIEW METHODS: Two independent reviewers performed data extraction and assessed the methodological quality of the studies using the Physical Therapy Evidence Database Scale. Standardized mean differences (SMD) were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 19 trials involving 729 participants used balance self-efficacy as a secondary outcome. Study quality ranged from poor (n = 3) to good (n = 8). In the meta-analysis of 15 trials that used intensive physical activity interventions, a moderate beneficial effect on balance self-efficacy was observed immediately following the programs (SMD 0.44, 95% CI 0.11-0.77, P = 0.009). In the studies that included follow-up assessments, there was no difference between groups across retention periods (eight studies, SMD 0.32, 95% CI -0.17-0.80, P = 0.20). In the four studies that used motor imagery interventions, there was no between-group difference in change in balance self-efficacy (fixed effects SMD 0.68, 95% CI -0.33-1.69, P = 0.18). CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity interventions appear to be effective in improving balance self-efficacy after stroke.