“
“The prevalence of suicidal attempts and self-injurious behavior

among 376 subjects diagnosed with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) was assessed via structured interviews. Results showed 16% of IED subjects selleckchem reported self-aggression, with 12.5% reporting suicide attempts and 7.4% reporting non-lethal self-injurious behaviors. Additional risk factors were identified. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“HIV-2 infection is associated with a slower rate of disease progression with limited impact on the survival of the majority of infected adults, and much lower plasma viral load than HIV-1. In spite of the major differences in viremia, the quantitative assessment of HIV-2 proviral load documented levels similar to those observed in HIV-1 infected individuals, suggesting an equivalent number of circulating infected cells in both infections. It remains unclear whether this apparent paradox results from a contribution of latent/quiescent viruses or from transcriptional and/or post-transcriptional control of HIV-2 replication. In order to investigate these possibilities, a one-step and two-step reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR based methods (RT-qPCR) for gag and tat mRNA HIV-2 transcripts were developed.

These methods were validated and compared to assess the expression of HIV-2 gag and tat transcripts in parallel with proviral DNA and viral production. The results suggest that the two-step approach may allow a better detection of low level gag

and tat mRNA HIV-2 transcripts. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Mood disorders are considered to be associated with altered circadian rhythms, but the correlation see more between them has remained obscure. The mood stabilizer, lithium, is an inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3 beta), which is a modulator of Secretory Pathway Ca2+ ATPase the circadian clock system. Here, we show that chronic restraint (CR) stress diminishes behavioral activity and rhythmicity in mice. CR stress elevated GSK-3 beta phosphorylation and blunted the rhythmic expression of PERIOD2 (PER2) in the brain. Moreover, lithium, when administered to the stress-imposed mice, reduced GSK-3 beta phosphorylation and restored PER2 expression in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in a nighttime-specific manner. These data suggest that CR stress altered the circadian behavioral rhythm through a change in circadian gene expression of PER2 and GSK-3 beta phosphorylation in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. NeuroReport 23: 98-102 (C) 2012 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.”
“Neurons and glia in the central nervous system express the necessary enzymes for the synthesis of neurosteroids that are produced in concentrations high enough to exert paracrine effects. Synthesis of brain neurosteroids declines with age, during stressful conditions (including major depression, chronic psychological stress), and in chronic inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases.