Psychoeducation Group for Depression (PEG-D): Study protocol for a prospective, randomized, single-blind, crossover trial.

Background: Considered a leading contributor to the global health burden, depression is characterized by its multifaceted nature. Recognizing the limitations of pharmacological treatments, non-pharmacological alternatives have been suggested to enhance full remission and increase quality of life.

Aim: To contribute to this field, we aim to develop and investigate the efficacy of a short psychoeducational program as an adjunctive treatment for depression.

Latin American consensus recommendations for the management and treatment of patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

Unlabelled: Despite the abundance of literature on treatment-resistant depression (TRD), there is no universally accepted definition of TRD, and available treatment pathways for the management of TRD vary across the Latin American region, highlighting the need for a uniform definition and treatment principles to optimize the management of TRD in Latin America.

Methods: Following a thematic literature review and pre-meeting survey, a Latin America expert panel comprising 14 psychiatrists with clinical experience in managing patients with TRD convened and utilized the RAND/UCLA appropriateness method to develop consensus-based recommendations on the appropriate definition of TRD and principles for its management.

Results: The expert panel agreed that 'treatment-resistant depression' (TRD) is defined as 'failure of two drug treatments of adequate doses, for 4-8 weeks duration with adequate adherence, during a major depressive episode'.

Mood disorders among adolescents in conflict with the law and in custody.

The high prevalence of psychiatric symptoms among juvenile delinquents is a well-replicated international finding. This study aimed to find the prevalence of mood disorders and their relationship with serious criminal acts in a population of adolescents in conflict with the law and in custody. A total of 123 male inmates aged 14 to 17 years were interviewed and assessed.

Distorted thoughts as a mediator of depressive symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder: a longitudinal study.

Background: Distorted thoughts are common in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and can impact patients' perceptions of depression severity, and predict chronicity and treatment response. This study aimed to investigate whether distorted thoughts mediate depressive symptoms in MDD over a 6-month period.

Method: These are secondary results from a study that followed 119 patients diagnosed with moderate to severe MDD for 6 months.

Distractibility, anxiety, irritability, and agitation symptoms are associated with the severity of depressive and manic symptoms in mixed depression.

Objective: To explore whether there is an association between distractibility, anxiety, irritability, and agitation (DAIA) symptoms and the severity of depressive and manic symptoms.

Methods: Patients with unipolar and bipolar disorder (I and II) and mixed depression were evaluated. DAIA symptoms were assessed using previously described definitions.

Nutritional Status, Dietary Habits, and Physical Activity in Older Adults from Manta, Manabí.

Unlabelled: Defining the nutritional status and physical activity level of older adults makes it possible to guide them toward healthy lifestyles.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate dietary habits, nutritional status, and physical activity engagement in older adults living in the city of Manta, Manabí.

Methods: An observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional study of 130 older adults was conducted to determine nutritional status via anthropometry, self-reported frequency of the consumption of foodstuffs, calculation of the healthy eating index (IAS), and physical activity patterns.

Altered brain creatine cycle metabolites in bipolar I disorder with childhood abuse: A H magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.

Background: Childhood abuse (CA) is a risk factor for a number of psychiatric disorders and has been associated with higher risk of developing bipolar disorders (BD). CA in BD has been associated with more severe clinical outcomes, but the neurobiological explanation for this is unknown. Few studies have explored in vivo measurement of brain metabolites using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) in CA and no studies have investigated the association of CA severity with brain neurometabolites in BD.

Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Theta-Burst Stimulation in Mixed Depression: Design, Rationale, and Objectives of a Randomized, Double-Blinded, Sham-Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Mixed-specifier mood disorders are probably a different subgroup in terms of response to treatment, socio-demographic parameters, course, and family history. Here we describe the rationale and design of a clinical trial aimed to test the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of a non-pharmacological treatment known as theta-burst stimulation (TBS) for treating the mixed depressive episodes of both bipolar (I or II), and unipolar depression.

Methods: The study is designed as a randomized, sham-controlled, double-blinded clinical trial evaluating TBS for the treatment of moderate or severe major depressive episodes with mixed features of patients receiving at least one first or second-line pharmacological treatment for depressive episodes without adequate response.

A randomized controlled trial comparing lithium plus valproic acid versus lithium plus carbamazepine in young patients with type 1 bipolar disorder: the LICAVAL study.

Background: Treatment of bipolar disorder (BD) usually requires drug combinations. Combinations of lithium plus valproic acid (Li/VPA) and lithium plus carbamazepine (Li/CBZ) are used in clinical practice but were not previously compared in a head-to-head trial.

Objective: The objective of this trial was to compare the efficacy and tolerability of Li/VPA versus Li/CBZ in treating type 1 BD in any phase of illness in young individuals.

SIGMA-VB: Validity and reliability of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale using the Structured Interview Guide for the MADRS.

Objective: The Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) is widely used to assess depression severity. The Structured Interview Guide for the MADRS (SIGMA) was created to standardize MADRS assessment. The objective of this study was to translate and validate the original SIGMA into a Brazilian Portuguese version (SIGMA-VB).

Double Blinded Randomized Trial of Subcutaneous Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation as Adjuvant Treatment for Major Unipolar Depressive Disorder.

Background: More than 30% of major depressive disorder patients fail to respond to adequate trials of medications and psychotherapy. While modern neuromodulation approaches (ie, vagal nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation) are yet to prove their efficacy for such cases in large randomized controlled trials, trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) has emerged as an alternative with promising effects on mood disorders.

Objective: To assess efficacy, safety, tolerability, and placebo effect duration of continuous subcutaneous TNS (sTNS) in treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

Lithium-associated anterior cingulate neurometabolic profile in euthymic Bipolar I disorder: A H-MRS study.

Objective: In the treatment of Bipolar disorder (BD), achieving euthymia is highly complex and usually requires a combination of mood stabilizers. The mechanism of action in stabilizing mood has not been fully elucidated, but alterations in N-Acetylaspartate (NAA), Myo-Inositol (mI) and Choline (Cho) have been implicated. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) is the gold standard technique for measuring brain NAA, Cho and mI in vivo.

What is the nonverbal communication of depression? Assessing expressive differences between depressive patients and healthy volunteers during clinical interviews.

Background: It is unclear if individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) present different nonverbal behavior (NVB) compared with healthy individuals, and also if depression treatments affect NVB. In this study, we compared the NVB of MDD subjects and healthy controls. We also verified how MDD subjects' NVB is affected by depression severity and acute treatments.

Anterior Cingulate Cortex Glutamatergic Metabolites and Mood Stabilizers in Euthymic Bipolar I Disorder Patients: A Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study.

Background: Bipolar disorder is a chronic and recurrent illness characterized by depressive and manic episodes. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) studies have demonstrated glutamate (Glu) system abnormalities in BD, but it is unclear how Glu varies among mood states and how medications modulate it. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of mood stabilizers on anterior cingulate cortex Glu levels using H-MRS during euthymia.

Genetic polymorphisms of the 5HT receptors are not related with depression in temporal lobe epilepsy caused by hippocampal sclerosis.

Background: Temporal lobe epilepsy caused by hippocampal sclerosis (TLE-HS) is the most frequent form of drug-resistant epilepsy in adults. Mood disorders are the most frequent psychiatric comorbidities observed in these patients. Common pathophysiological mechanisms of epilepsy and psychiatric comorbidities include abnormalities in the serotonin pathway.

Cognitive outcomes of TMS treatment in bipolar depression: Safety data from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Bipolar depression (BD) is a highly prevalent condition associated with marked cognitive deficits that persist even in the euthymic phase of the illness. Pharmacological treatments for BD might further aggravate cognitive impairment, highlighting the need of developing interventions that present cognitive safety. In this study, we evaluated the cognitive effects of H1-coil (deep) transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in patients with treatment-resistant bipolar depression.

Treatment of Bipolar Depression with Deep TMS: Results from a Double-Blind, Randomized, Parallel Group, Sham-Controlled Clinical Trial.

Bipolar depression (BD) is a highly prevalent condition with limited therapeutic options. Deep (H1-coil) transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) is a novel TMS modality with established efficacy for unipolar depression. We conducted a randomized sham-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of dTMS in treatment-resistant BD patients.

Is nonverbal behavior in patients and interviewers relevant to the assessment of depression and its recovery? A study with Dutch and Brazilian patients.

Nonverbal behaviors exhibited by patients with depression in their interactions with others may reflect social maladjustment and depression maintenance. Investigations of associations between unipolar depression and both patients' and interviewers' behaviors have been scarce and restricted to European samples. This study examined whether nonverbal behavior in patients and their interviewers is associated with depression severity and recovery.

Investigation of associations between recurrence of major depressive disorder and spinal posture alignment: A quantitative cross-sectional study.

The aim of this study was to investigate associations between poor spinal posture and the recurrence of major depressive episodes and severity of symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). This was a cross-sectional quantitative study of MDD patients. Outpatients were recruited from consecutive admissions at a mood disorders unit of a tertiary psychiatric hospital.

Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Lactate and Glutathione Levels in Euthymic Bipolar I Disorder: 1H-MRS Study.

Objective: Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are 2 closely integrated processes implicated in the physiopathology of bipolar disorder. Advanced proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques enable the measurement of levels of lactate, the main marker of mitochondrial dysfunction, and glutathione, the predominant brain antioxidant. The objective of this study was to measure brain lactate and glutathione levels in bipolar disorder and healthy controls.