Background: The aim of this study was to measure the parameters of oxidative stress in the blood of patients with post-traumatic stress disorder. Methods: The study included 80 male war veterans who participated actively in the Homeland war in Croatia. Volunteers were divided into two groups: 50 veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and 30 without diagnosis. The self-assessment Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory were used to detect the severity of depression and anxiety in the post-traumatic stress disorder patients. Catalytic concentrations of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase in erythrocytes and the concentration of malondialdehyde in serum were measured spectrophotometrically. Results: Although the catalytic concentrations of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase and erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase were within the reference range for both groups, the values obtained for the post-traumatic stress disorder group were significantly lower (P < 0.001). For serum malondialdehyde concentrations, no statistically significant differences between the groups were found. Conclusions: Lower catalytic concentrations of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase and erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder may indicate a weaker response to oxidative stress due to impaired enzyme activity and/or decreased synthesis. Conversely, no significant changes in serum malondialdehyde concentrations suggest a compensated balance and adaptive response to (oxidative) stress.

PurposeTo investigate the correlates of a clinical therapeutic response by using the parameters measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy after the administration of atypical antipsychotics.Patients and methodsTwenty-five antipsychotic-naïve first-episode patients with schizophrenia were monitored for 12 months. The patients were evaluated using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Clinical Global Impression Scale of Severity, Tower of London – Drexel University, Letter–Number Span Test, Trail Making Test A, and Personal and Social Performance Scale. They were administered atypical antipsychotics, starting with quetiapine. In the absence of a therapeutic response, another antipsychotic was introduced.ResultsAfter 12 study months, the N-acetylaspartate/creatine (NAA/Cr) level did not significantly change at the whole-group level. Additional analysis revealed a significant rise in the NAA/Cr level in the study group that stayed on the same antipsychotic throughout the study course (P=0.008) and a significant drop in NAA/Cr in the study group that switched antipsychotics (P=0.005). On the whole-group level, no significant correlations between NAA/Cr values and other scores were found at either baseline or after 12 study months.ConclusionOne-year treatment with atypical antipsychotics administered to antipsychotic-naïve patients didn’t result in a significant rise in the NAA/Cr ratio. However, a significant rise was witnessed in the study group in which a satisfactory therapeutic response had been achieved with a single antipsychotic administration.

BackgroundThe role of brain metabolites as biological correlates of the intensity, symptoms, and course of major depression has not been determined. It has also been inconclusive whether the change in brain metabolites, measured with proton magnetic spectroscopy, could be correlated with the treatment outcome.MethodsProton magnetic spectroscopy was performed in 29 participants with a first episode of moderate depression occurring in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left amygdala at baseline and after 8 weeks of antidepressant treatment with escitalopram. The Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, and the Beck Depression Inventory were used to assess the intensity of depression at baseline and at the endpoint of the study. At endpoint, the participants were identified as responders (n=17) or nonresponders (n=12) to the antidepressant therapy.ResultsThere was no significant change in the N-acetyl aspartate/creatine ratio (NAA/Cr) after treatment with antidepressant medication. The baseline and endpoint NAA/Cr ratios were not significantly different between the responder and nonresponder groups. The correlation between NAA/Cr and changes in the scores of clinical scales were not significant in either group.ConclusionThis study could not confirm any significant changes in NAA after antidepressant treatment in the first episode of moderate depression, or in regard to therapy response in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex or left amygdala. Further research is necessary to conclude whether NAA alterations in the first episode of depression could possibly be different from chronic or late-onset depression, and whether NAA alterations in stress-induced (reactive) depression are different from endogenous depression. The potential role of NAA as a biomarker of a treatment effect has yet to be established.

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