Ob jec tive:To ex am ine the lipid lev els in a sam ple of pa tients with comorbid gen er al ized anx i ety dis or der (GAD) and ma jor depres sive dis or der (MDD).Methods: Se rum lipid con cen tra tions were ex am ined in 40 pa tients with both GAD and MDD, in 27 pa tients with MDD only, in 26 pa tients with GAD only, and in 24 healthy con trol sub jects.Re sults: All mean se rum cho les terol con cen tra tions are pre sented in Ta ble 1. The mean se rum to tal cho les terol con cen tra tion in pa tients with both GAD and MDD was sig nif i cantly higher than in MDD-only pa tients, GAD-only pa tients, and con trol sub jects. The triglyceride con cen tra tion was also sig nif i cantly higher in pa tients with both GAD and MDD than in MDD-only pa tients, GAD-only pa tients, and con trol sub jects. Pa tients with both GAD and MDD had a lower mean high-density li po pro tein cho lesterol (HDL-C) con cen tra tion than did pa tients with GAD only and con trol sub jects. The se rum con cen tra tion of low-density li popro tein cho les terol (LDL-C) was higher in pa tients with both GAD and MDD than in pa tients with MDD only and GAD only and healthy con trol sub jects. Con clu sions: Our find ings in di cate that the pa tients with both GAD and MDD have in creased se rum cho les t erol, triglyceride, and LDL-C and re duced HDL-C lev els. These pa tients may have a greater risk of mor tal ity from cor o nary ar tery dis ease (CAD) than do pa tients with ei ther de pres sion or anx i ety dis or der. H igh se rum lipid con cen tra tions are closely as so ci ated with stress and anx i ety (1,2). Sev eral in ves ti ga tions have dem on strated that both nat u ral and ex per i men tally induced stress re sult in a sig nif i cant in crease in cho les terol (3,4). There fore, the pres ence of anx i ety may in crease the risk for cor o nary heart dis ease. Sym pa thetic ac ti va tion in gen er alized anx i ety dis or der (GAD) (5) and in panic dis or der (PD) (4,6) causes an in crease in the ac tiv ity of li po pro tein lipase through the re lease of epi neph rine and corticosteroids. This hy per ac tiv ity in li po pro tein lipase re sults in an in crease in free fatty ac ids which may be con verted into cho les terol. Previ ous stud ies also re ported an as so ci a tion be tween low choles terol lev els and ma jor de pres sive dis or der (MDD) (7-11). Maes and oth ers sug gested that MDD was ac com pa nied by re duced for ma tion of cholesteryl es ters and by im paired reverse cho les terol trans port (9). Hay ward and oth ers (12) and Bajwa and oth ers (13) found that PD pa tients had sig nif icantly higher cho les terol lev els com pared with MDD pa tients and healthy con trol sub jects. Bajwa and oth ers also re ported that among MDD pa tients, a his tory of anx i ety dis or ders (GAD, sim ple pho bia, PD) was as so ci ated with a sig nif i cant el e va tion of se rum cho les terol lev els (13). Agargun and others found that PD pa tients had higher se rum cho les terol than did PD pa tients with comorbid MDD and nor mal c...

Objectives:To comparatively evaluate the effects of thymoquinone (TQ), the biologically active main component of volatile oil derived from Nigella sativa seeds, in an experimental dry eye model.Materials and Methods:A total of 36 BALB/c mice 10 weeks of age were used in the study. The mice were divided into 6 groups of 6 mice. Two groups were negative and positive controls, and the other 4 groups were treated with balanced salt solution, fluorometholone (FML), TQ, or vehicle (Tween80). After 1 week of treatment, the mice were killed and the eyes removed for histopathologic examination and cytokine analysis. Interleukin (IL)-1α tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, and lactoferrin levels in the conjunctival tissue were measured by multiplex immunobead assay. The presence of inflammatory cells in ocular tissue samples were investigated by hematoxylin-eosin and periodic acid-Schiff staining. Inflammatory T cells containing CXT receptor in the conjunctiva were determined by flow cytometry.Results:FLML and TQ groups had less inflammatory cell density and more goblet cells compared to the other groups. High levels of IL-1α and IL-2 were found in the TQ group.Conclusion:TQ treatment was associated with reduced inflammation in pathological examination, but did not significant lower cytokine levels.

HD significantly improves PWV in patients reaching dry weight. Reduction of fluid excess by ultrafiltration in HD patients may reduce CV mortality by reducing arterial stiffness.