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Medicina
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Peripheral Characteristics and Risk Factors of Mental Disorders: Diagnosis and...
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Peripheral Characteristics and Risk Factors of Mental Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment Outcome

A special issue of Medicina (ISSN 1648-9144). This special issue belongs to the section "Psychiatry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 May 2023) | Viewed by 10802

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Zhengwu Peng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Psychiatry, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
Interests: psychiatry; neural regulation; gut microbiome; lipidomics; neuroinflammation
Dr. Ying Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Psychiatry, Xi’an International Medical Center Hospital, Xi’an, China
Interests: depression; anxiety; neural regulation; neuroinflammation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

[*] Background and history of this topic: With the emergence of stress events (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), the prevalence of psychiatric diseases, such as anxiety and depression remain increased, which has become an increasing challenge for public health. However, the diagnosis of those disorders still mainly relies on the subjective interpretation of clinical symptoms presented by patients rather than any biological markers, and their etiology is not fully understood nowadays. Therefore, the investigation of objective biological peripheral characteristics might be able to provide a basis for the development of new diagnostic methods or prediction of treatment outcomes.

[*] Aim and scope of the Special Issue: This issue will focus on the Peripheral characteristics of psychiatric diseases, and further investigate the prediction, prevention, and treatment strategy from a peripheral perspective as well as the identification of potential biomarkers. Deciphering such questions will not only facilitate clinical applications of psychiatric diseases but also provide insights into basic neurosciences.

[*] Cutting-edge research: gut microbiome, fatty acid, lipidomics.

[*] What kind of papers we are soliciting: This issue is focused on presenting basic, preclinical and clinical research that includes peripheral characteristics aspects that potentially contribute to the diagnosis, prevention and treatment outcome of psychiatric diseases. We encourage contributors to submit Original Research that contributes to the potential peripheral characteristics, including but not limited to the gut microbiome, inflammation, fatty acid, and metabolite.

Dr. Zhengwu Peng
Dr. Ying Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Medicina is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • psychiatry
  • gut microbiome
  • lipidomics
  • fatty acid
  • inflammation
  • antioxidant

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 970 KiB  
Article
Calprotectin, Biomarker of Depression in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease?
by Miorita Melina Iordache, Anca Mihaela Belu, Sabina E. Vlad, Kamer Ainur Aivaz, Andrei Dumitru, Cristina Tocia and Eugen Dumitru
Medicina 2023, 59(7), 1240; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina59071240 - 03 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2046
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Calprotectin is a marker for intestinal inflammation. Recent research suggests a link between inflammation and depression. This study assessed the association between the levels of calprotectin in patients from South-Eastern Europe and the severity of depression, anxiety, and quality [...] Read more.
Background and Objectives: Calprotectin is a marker for intestinal inflammation. Recent research suggests a link between inflammation and depression. This study assessed the association between the levels of calprotectin in patients from South-Eastern Europe and the severity of depression, anxiety, and quality of life. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 30 confirmed patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) who were assessed using clinical interviews for determining the severities of mental disorders (i.e., depression severity—PHQ-9, anxiety—GAD-7) and the quality of life (EQ-5D). Stool samples were collected from all participants for measuring their levels of calprotectin. Results: The level of calprotectin is correlated with PHQ-9 (ρ = 0.416, p = 0.022) and EQ-5D (ρ = −0.304, p = 0.033) but not with GAD 7 (ρ = 0.059, p = 0.379). Calprotectin levels in patients with mild, moderate, and moderately severe depression were significantly higher than in patients with minimal depression (198 µg/g vs. 66,9 µg/g, p = 0.04). Calprotectin level was corelated with the following depressive symptoms: autolytic ideation (ρ = 0.557, p = 0.001), fatigue (ρ = 0.514, p = 0.002), slow movement (ρ = 0.490, p = 0.003), and sleep disorders (ρ = 0.403, p = 0.014). Calprotectin was an independent predictor of depression with an odds ratio of 1.01 (95%: 1.002–1.03, p < 0.01). An ROC analysis showed that a level of calprotectin of 131 µg/g or higher has a sensitivity of 82%, a specificity of 61%, and an accuracy of 70% for predicting depression. In this study, no significant correlations were found between calprotectin level and anxiety. Conclusions: Calprotectin levels are associated with the severity of depression, and checking for a calprotectin level of 131 µg/g or higher may be a potential accessible screening test for depression in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Peripheral Characteristics and Risk Factors of Mental Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment Outcome)
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9 pages, 297 KiB  
Article
Mental Health of Primary and Secondary School Teachers in the Remote Mountain Areas
by Guoxiang Fang, Xiaofei Zhou, Yang Xin, Mei Li, Fang Li, Wenwen Zhang, Bo Li and Ying Wang
Medicina 2023, 59(5), 971; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina59050971 - 17 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1546
Abstract
Background and objective: Teaching is widely recognized as a highly stressful profession. Job stress leads to emotional exhaustion, which in turn triggers teacher attrition. The cost is estimated as USD 2.2 billion annually for teacher dropouts. It is therefore important to understand [...] Read more.
Background and objective: Teaching is widely recognized as a highly stressful profession. Job stress leads to emotional exhaustion, which in turn triggers teacher attrition. The cost is estimated as USD 2.2 billion annually for teacher dropouts. It is therefore important to understand the mental state of teachers and the factors that may influence it in order to provide the appropriate early intervention. In the past, more attention has been paid to the mental status of teachers in economically developed cities, but less research has been conducted in remote cities. In this study, we selected primary and secondary school teachers in a typical area to assess their mental health, thereby contributing to the development of effective mental health education programs for teachers in primary and secondary schools. Materials and methods: In this study, 1102 teachers from a typical city in Ningxia Province, characterized by remote mountain areas, minority communities, and a low economic level, participated. The mental status of the teachers was assessed by a Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). The effects of gender, age, level of education, place of work, and marital status on the total SCL-90 score were recorded and compared. The subscale scores of the SCL-90 and the differences among the respondents with various characteristics were analyzed. Results: In total, 1025 data were valid and used for statistical analysis. The effective rate of this study was 93.01%. The analysis showed that 25.17% of the subjects had possible mental problems. There were significant differences in age and marital status (p < 0.001). The score of teachers less than 30 years old was lower than that of other teachers (p = 0.001 vs. 30–39; p < 0.001 vs. 40–49; p < 0.001 vs. ≥50). The no-marriage teachers had the lowest score than the married group or others (p < 0.001 vs. married; p < 0.05 vs. others). Compared to the norm, teachers’ mental status was poor, especially in somatization (p < 0.001), obsessive-compulsive symptoms (p < 0.001), depression (p < 0.001), anxiety (p < 0.001), hostility (p < 0.001), phobic anxiety (p < 0.001), and psychosis (p < 0.001). There were gender differences in obsessive-compulsive symptoms (p < 0.05) and depression (p < 0.05). Conclusions: These data indicate that the mental status of these teachers is not optimistic, and married female teachers aged 40–55 years need to be given more attention. Mental health examinations can be incorporated into daily physical examination items to facilitate the timely detection and early intervention of negative emotions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Peripheral Characteristics and Risk Factors of Mental Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment Outcome)
20 pages, 902 KiB  
Article
Psychoanalysis of COVID-19 Patient Narratives: A Descriptive Study
by Yu Deng, Luxue Xie, Li Wang and Yaokai Chen
Medicina 2023, 59(4), 712; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina59040712 - 05 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1495
Abstract
Background and Objectives: COVID-19 patients are a psychologically vulnerable patient group who suffer from both physical symptoms and psychological problems. The present study is a psychoanalytic investigation of COVID-19 patients utilizing Lacan’s desire theory. We aimed to explore the manner in which [...] Read more.
Background and Objectives: COVID-19 patients are a psychologically vulnerable patient group who suffer from both physical symptoms and psychological problems. The present study is a psychoanalytic investigation of COVID-19 patients utilizing Lacan’s desire theory. We aimed to explore the manner in which patients’ desire is presented in their lived experience narratives and sought to discover factors which directly impacted on this process. Materials and Methods: In-depth semi-structural interviews were conducted with 36 COVID-19 patients in China. During each interview, participants narrated their lived experiences of COVID-19 infection. Emotions, metaphors, and behaviors in patient narratives were collated as the main points for psychoanalysis. Results: Our findings demonstrated that the desire for being a healthy person made patients emotionally sensitive to the social environment. Anxiety and obsessive behaviors emerged in the process, which reveals their desire for that which they lack. Furthermore, public fear with respect to COVID-19 was somehow converted to psychological pressure on COVID-19 patients. Thus, these patients attempted to “de-identify” their identity as “patients”. Positive responses of COVID-19 patients to the external world included admiring medical personnel, government, and country, while negative responses included interpersonal conflicts or complaints about discrimination. Following the rules of the Other, COVID-19 patients were influenced by the Other’s desire in constructing their own image of a healthy person. Conclusions: This study revealed COVID-19 patients’ psychological need to rid themselves of the identity of “patient” at the individual and social level. Our findings have clinical implications in helping COVID-19 patients to reshape their identity and to live a normal life. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Peripheral Characteristics and Risk Factors of Mental Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment Outcome)
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14 pages, 1010 KiB  
Article
The Predictive Value of Monocyte/High-Density Lipoprotein Ratio (MHR) and Positive Symptom Scores for Aggression in Patients with Schizophrenia
by Ning Cheng, Huan Ma, Ke Zhang, Caiyi Zhang and Deqin Geng
Medicina 2023, 59(3), 503; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina59030503 - 03 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1286
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Schizophrenia with aggression often has an inflammatory abnormality. The monocyte/high-density lipoprotein ratio (MHR), neutrophil/high-density lipoprotein ratio (NHR), platelet/high-density lipoprotein ratio (PHR) and lymphocyte/high-density lipoprotein ratio (LHR) have lately been examined as novel markers for the inflammatory response. The objective [...] Read more.
Background and Objectives: Schizophrenia with aggression often has an inflammatory abnormality. The monocyte/high-density lipoprotein ratio (MHR), neutrophil/high-density lipoprotein ratio (NHR), platelet/high-density lipoprotein ratio (PHR) and lymphocyte/high-density lipoprotein ratio (LHR) have lately been examined as novel markers for the inflammatory response. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between these new inflammatory biomarkers and aggression in schizophrenia patients. Materials and Methods: We enrolled 214 schizophrenia inpatients in our cross-sectional analysis. They were divided into the aggressive group (n = 94) and the non-aggressive group (n = 120) according to the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS). The severity of schizophrenia was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The numbers of platelets (PLT), neutrophils (NEU), lymphocytes (LYM), monocytes (MON) and the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) content from subjects were recorded. The NHR, PHR, MHR and LHR were calculated. We analyzed the differences between those indexes in these two groups, and further searched for the correlation between inflammatory markers and aggression. Results: Patients with aggression had higher positive symptom scores (p = 0.002). The values of PLT, MON, MHR and PHR in the aggressive group were considerably higher (p < 0.05). The NHR (r = 0.289, p < 0.01), LHR (r = 0.213, p < 0.05) and MHR (r = 0.238, p < 0.05) values of aggressive schizophrenia patients were positively correlated with the total weighted scores of the MOAS. A higher MHR (β = 1.529, OR = 4.616, p = 0.026) and positive symptom scores (β = 0.071, OR = 1.047, p = 0.007) were significant predictors of aggression in schizophrenia patients. Conclusions: The MHR and the positive symptom scores may be predictors of aggressive behavior in schizophrenia patients. The MHR, a cheap and simple test, may be useful as a clinical tool for risk stratification, and it may direct doctors’ prevention and treatment plans in the course of ordinary clinical care. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Peripheral Characteristics and Risk Factors of Mental Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment Outcome)
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14 pages, 357 KiB  
Article
Social Insurance Physician Burnout—Stress Factors and Coping Strategies
by Corina Oancea, Anicuta Cernamoriti, Despina Mihaela Gherman and Florina Georgeta Popescu
Medicina 2023, 59(3), 436; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina59030436 - 22 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1831
Abstract
Background and Objective Burnout syndrome is well-documented and highly prevalent among healthcare professionals. The literature search found studies mainly aimed at front-line medical specialties, cardiologists, or physicians working in intensive care units. Workload and work conditions favor the occurrence of burnout syndrome among [...] Read more.
Background and Objective Burnout syndrome is well-documented and highly prevalent among healthcare professionals. The literature search found studies mainly aimed at front-line medical specialties, cardiologists, or physicians working in intensive care units. Workload and work conditions favor the occurrence of burnout syndrome among social insurance physicians, with many consequences on health status and a decrease in the quality of their work. We aimed to assess the degree of vulnerability to developing burnout syndrome, factors associated with stress, and coping strategies at social insurance physicians. Materials and Methods: Social insurance physicians working in territorial services for medical assessment of work capacity from Romania participated in the study. An observational study was performed to describe the extent of the exhaustion syndrome among social insurance physicians (SIPhs). Three questionnaires were filled out by the participants: a short version of MBI-HSS to analyze the degree of burnout, an interview with specific questions for the source of stress and Brief-COPE for stress control. Brief demographic data were also collected. Data were statistically analyzed with appropriate tests using PSPP software. Results: Seventy-four physicians were included in the study. Fifty-six were females (75.7%) and twenty-eight (38%) had moderate or high burnout and cognitive distortions with depression resulting as a major side-effect (p < 0.001). Professional factors, mainly deadline pressure (p < 0.001) and high workload (p = 0.012), have emerged as contributing factors to burnout syndrome. Mental disengagement (p = 0.001), active coping (p = 0.006), and acceptance (p = 0.014) would improve stress control. Conclusion: More than two-thirds of social insurance physicians had moderate and high burnout syndrome. The development of strategies to standardize workload was identified as an important action area, along with the long-term preservation of health status and professional performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Peripheral Characteristics and Risk Factors of Mental Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment Outcome)
16 pages, 2901 KiB  
Article
A Preliminary Comparison of Plasma Tryptophan Metabolites and Medium- and Long-Chain Fatty Acids in Adult Patients with Major Depressive Disorder and Schizophrenia
by Jun-Chang Liu, Huan Yu, Rui Li, Cui-Hong Zhou, Qing-Qing Shi, Li Guo and Hong He
Medicina 2023, 59(2), 413; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina59020413 - 20 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1791
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Disturbance of tryptophan (Trp) and fatty acid (FA) metabolism plays a role in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders. However, quantitative analysis and comparison of plasma Trp metabolites and medium- and long-chain fatty acids (MCFAs and LCFAs) in adult patients [...] Read more.
Background and Objectives: Disturbance of tryptophan (Trp) and fatty acid (FA) metabolism plays a role in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders. However, quantitative analysis and comparison of plasma Trp metabolites and medium- and long-chain fatty acids (MCFAs and LCFAs) in adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and schizophrenia (SCH) are limited. Materials and Methods: Clinical symptoms were assessed and the level of Trp metabolites and MCFAs and LCFAs for plasma samples from patients with MDD (n = 24) or SCH (n = 22) and healthy controls (HC, n = 23) were obtained and analyzed. Results: We observed changes in Trp metabolites and MCFAs and LCFAs with MDD and SCH and found that Trp and its metabolites, such as N-formyl-kynurenine (NKY), 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5-HIAA), and indole, as well as omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (N3) and the ratio of N3 to omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (N3: N6), decreased in both MDD and SCH patients. Meanwhile, levels of saturated fatty acids (SFA) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) decreased in SCH patients, and there was a significant difference in the composition of MCFAs and LCFAs between MDD and SCH patients. Moreover, the top 10 differential molecules could distinguish the two groups of diseases from HC and each other with high reliability. Conclusions: This study provides a further understanding of dysfunctional Trp and FA metabolism in adult patients with SCH or MDD and might develop combinatorial classifiers to distinguish between these disorders. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Peripheral Characteristics and Risk Factors of Mental Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment Outcome)
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