Depression: Baba K

Namiki M, Akaza H, Shimazui T, Ito N, Iwamoto T, Baba K, Kumano H, Koh E, Tsujimura A, Matsumiya K, Horie S, Maruyama O, Marumo K, Yanase T, Kumamoto Y, Anonymous00062, Anonymous00063. · No affiliation provided · Int J Urol. · Pubmed #18452452 No free full text.

This publication has no abstract.

Nakano Y, Baba H, Maeshima H, Kitajima A, Sakai Y, Baba K, Suzuki T, Mimura M, Arai H. · Department of Psychiatry, Juntendo University, School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. · J Affect Disord. · Pubmed #18304646 No free full text.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Past neuropsychological studies on depression have documented executive dysfunction and it has been reported that some dysfunction persists even after depressive symptoms disappear. Studies have shown a correlation between cerebrovascular lesions and executive dysfunction in depression among the elderly. The aim of the present study was to focus on executive functions in remitted major depressive disorder (MDD) patients, and to investigate whether remitted young and elderly patients show different patterns of executive dysfunction, and to ascertain the relationships with vascular lesions. METHODS: Subjects were 79 inpatients with MDD and 85 healthy controls. Each subject received Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Stroop test, and Verbal Fluency Test (VFT) in a remitted state. Both the MDD and control groups were divided into young and elderly groups, and the performances between 4 groups were compared. RESULTS: For Stroop test, the scores of the MDD group were significantly lower than controls. In addition, as for VFT, the scores for the elderly MDD group were significantly lower than the other groups. Multiple regression analysis showed that VFT scores were affected by the presence of vascular lesions. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study demonstrated that executive dysfunction remained even in a remitted state in MDD patients, but the patterns of impairment were different between young and elderly patients. The results also suggested that vascular lesions affect executive dysfunction, particularly in elderly depressive patients.

Anitha A, Nakamura K, Yamada K, Iwayama Y, Toyota T, Takei N, Iwata Y, Suzuki K, Sekine Y, Matsuzaki H, Kawai M, Miyoshi K, Katayama T, Matsuzaki S, Baba K, Honda A, Hattori T, Shimizu S, Kumamoto N, Tohyama M, Yoshikawa T, Mori N. · Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan. · Biol Psychiatry. · Pubmed #17884020 No free full text.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: DISC1 has been suggested as a causative gene for psychoses in a large Scottish kindred. PCNT2 has recently been identified as an interacting partner of DISC1. In this study, we investigated the role of PCNT2 in bipolar disorder, by gene expression analysis and genetic association study. METHODS: By TaqMan real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), we examined the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of PCNT2 in the postmortem prefrontal cortex of bipolar disorder (n = 34), schizophrenia (n = 31), and control subjects (n = 32), obtained from Stanley Array Collection. We also compared the mRNA levels of PCNT2 in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of bipolar disorder (n = 21), schizophrenia (n = 21), depression (n = 33), and control subjects (n = 57). For the association study, 23 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analyzed in 285 bipolar disorder patients and 287 age-and gender-matched control subjects, all of Japanese origin. The genotypes were determined by TaqMan assay. RESULTS: Significantly higher expression of PCNT2 was observed in the brain samples of bipolar group, compared with the control (p = .001) and schizophrenia (p = .018) groups. In the peripheral blood lymphocytes also, a significantly higher expression of PCNT2 was observed in the bipolar group, compared with the control subjects (p = .043). However, none of the SNPs analyzed in our study showed a significant association with bipolar disorder; a weak tendency toward association was observed for two intronic SNPs. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that elevated levels of PCNT2 might be implicated in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder.

Sugimori H, Yoshida K, Tanaka T, Baba K, Nishida T, Nakazawa R, Iwamoto T. · Department of Preventive Medicine, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kawasaki, Japan. · J Sex Med. · Pubmed #16422871 No free full text.

Abstract: AIMS: This study aimed to elucidate the relationships between erectile dysfunction (ED) and depression or anxiety. METHODS: Subjects were 1,419 Japanese men aged 40-64 years. ED was assessed by the International Index of Erectile Function 5 (IIEF-5) score (Japanese version), and depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). In this study ED cases were defined as those whose IIEF-5 value was less than 12, and a score of 8 or higher was used to classify a subject as suffering from depression or anxiety, respectively. The prevalence odds ratio (OR) of ED was calculated with confidence interval (CI) estimated by the Woolf's method by five age groups (40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64 years). To control for age, body mass index, smoking, and alcohol drinking factors, we conducted the multivariate logistic regression analysis for calculating adjusted ORs and 99% CIs. RESULTS: ED was significantly associated with depression in age groups 45-49 (OR 3.42, 99% CI 1.51-7.76) and 50-54 years (OR 2.43, 99% CI 1.11-5.35). After using multivariate analysis, adjusted OR also showed statistical significance. (OR 2.02, 99% CI 1.32-3.08). ED was significantly associated with anxiety in the 50-55-year-old age group (OR 2.48, 99% CI 1.12-5.47). After using multivariate analysis, adjusted OR also showed statistical significance (OR 1.77, 99% CI 1.15-2.72). The concomitant depression and anxiety group (A+D+) had significantly higher prevalence of ED than the control group (A-D-) in both the 45-49 and 50-54 age groups. (P < 0.01) CONCLUSION: ED associated significantly with depression and anxiety status only in late 40s to early 50s (45-55 years) in male Japanese. Furthermore, comorbidities of depression and anxiety strengthen this association. Our results might be useful in furthering understanding of ED etiology and determining a target population for prevention in ED subjects.

Hashioka S, Monji A, Sasaki M, Yoshida I, Baba K, Tashiro N. · Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. · Clin Neuropharmacol. · Pubmed #12410062 No free full text.

Abstract: We report the case of a presenile woman with Cotard syndrome, in the context of major depression, who showed an improvement in bilateral frontal hypoperfusion in a SPECT study using 99mTc-HMPAO after undergoing successful treatment with antidepressant therapy. We also retrospectively evaluated her clinical course based on the clinical stages. The symptoms of Cotard syndrome have been reported to change dramatically according to the stages. This peculiarity made it difficult for us to rapidly diagnose Cotard syndrome in the context of major depression, and not dementia, and thereby adequately treat the patient in our case. Differences in the reduced blood flow regions and a time lag from psychiatric remission were observed before the improvement in the SPECT findings when comparing our case with a previously reported case of Cotard syndrome. These differences suggest that the mechanism of Cotard syndrome is still not well understood at the present time.