Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell-Related Biomarkers in Schizophrenia.

INTRODUCTION: Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness causing significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, and other important areas of life. While there is no widely accepted endophenotype, peripheral blood cells may serve as an accessible model of intracellular changes in schizophrenia. METHODS: We reviewed the literature on the query "peripheral blood mononuclear cells AND schizophrenia" in Medline (Pubmed), selecting studies that searched for specific biomarkers of schizophrenia. We considered both diagnostic biomarkers and biomarkers of therapeutic response, specific schizophrenia disorders or differential diagnostic biomarkers. RESULTS: We retrieved 41 articles matching the search criteria, among which were studies that considered changes in the production of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory markers, proteins, receptors, enzyme activity, and gene expression as potential biomarkers. CONCLUSION: Approaches analysing a biological axis or a group of related biomarkers may hold the greatest promise for identifying schizophrenia. In addition, pharmacological status, smoking status, inflammatory markers and glucose metabolites, the presence of comorbidities should be considered. Certain biomarkers, while not specific for the diagnosis of schizophrenia, may indicate the prognosis and effectiveness of treatment in the established diagnosis.

Features of minor depressive disorder subtypes in conditions of COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The continuous research on minor depressive disorder is one of the pressing issues in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We studied the features of minor depressive disorder subtypes in conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-two patients were observed with the administration of clinical follow-up research method. RESULTS: The following major subtypes of minor depressive disorder were identified: Asthenic, hysterical, hypochondriacal, apathetic, and minor depressive disorder with obsessive-compulsive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic lead to an increase in the development of the minor depressive disorder with a predominance of asthenic and obsessive-phobic symptoms. Therapy of minor depressive disorder requires the involvement of a wide range of specialists, preferably with the inclusion of community-based treatment.