Disturbed sensitive equilibrium led by stress-induced inflammation in psychiatric illness

Eveningness is associated with more severe depressive symptoms independently of sleep quality and fatigue level only in first-episode but not recurrent depression in major depressive disorder

People with an evening chronotype have an increased risk of experiencing a major depressive disorder (MDD). It is unclear if this effect is predominantly related to the initial development of MDD or also present in recurrent episodes. The current study aimed to investigate if the association between chronotype and depressive severity in MDD patients is comparable in MDD patients with first and recurrent episodes. 386 MDD patients, 70.7% females and aged between 16 and 64, participated in the study. The Morningness - Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI20), and Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS-SR16) were administered to participants to determine chronotype, sleep quality, fatigue level, and depressive severity, respectively. Multivariate regression models were utilized to analyze how chronotype influences depressive severity. The study showed that chronotype, sleep quality, and fatigue level were all associated with depressive severity. Eveningness significantly predicted an increase in depressive severity independently of sleep quality and fatigue level only in patients with the first episode (-0.068, p = 0.010), but not in patients with recurrent episodes (0.013, p = 0.594). Circadian-focused treatment should be considered in first-episode depression only.

Mental stress, atheroma, myocardial ischaemia and injury: the link is inflammation

Increasing observational and experimental trial data have shown that mental stress can lead to an increase in adverse clinical cardiovascular events. Mental stress affects the heart by inducing ischaemia and precipitating myocardial infarction (MI) or direct myocardial injury. Mental stress leads to systemic inflammation. Inflammation is known to cause rapid atheromatous plaque progression, instability and thrombosis-the classic type 1 MI. Inflammation can also lead to type 2 MI or myocarditis and injury. The published data linking systemic inflammation, mental stress and cardiovascular disease will be reviewed to establish the linkage between mind and heart, thereby highlighting the importance of holistically managing the patient, not only addressing separate organ systems. Finally, recent trial evidence showing the value of anti-inflammatory drugs in cardiovascular and mental conditions will be briefly considered.