depression

A dose of psilocybin—a hallucinogenic substance—administered to groups of 3 or 4 people suffering from cancer and depression may help reduce their depressive symptoms, according to a clinical trial conducted in the United States. The study involved 30 patients who also received individual and group therapeutic support. In another article, also published in the journal Cancer, the authors examine how the study participants perceived the therapy.

An international team, led by the Hospital Clínic-IDIBAPS in Barcelona together with King's College London (UK) and Dalhousie University (Canada), has published the largest meta-analysis to date studying the risk of children of people with mental disorders developing the same, or another type of disorder. The study included more than three million children of parents with different types of disorders and more than 20 million people as a control population. The results, published in the journal World Psychiatry, indicate that, overall, the former have a 1.5 to 3 times higher risk of developing a disorder in their lifetime. According to the authors, in the case of bipolar, depressive or anxiety disorders, the risk of their offspring suffering from some type of disorder is more than 50%.

Apps developed to treat depression may be beneficial in the management of severe and moderate cases. This is the conclusion of a review and meta-analysis that included 13 studies with up to 16 different apps. The results are published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Researchers at Northwestern University in the United States have studied the effect of a temporary decrease in sleep on the mood of mice. According to their results, the animals became more hyperactive and hypersexual for a few hours. In addition, the occasional lack of sleep had an antidepressant effect that lasted for a few days and is explained by an increase in the release of dopamine. The results are published in the journal Neuron.

A commentary published last Friday in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, signed by more than 30 researchers, challenges the conclusions of the systematic review published in the same journal in July 2022, in which the authors concluded that there was no evidence that low serotonin levels cause depression. The researchers in the new paper blame the earlier study for flaws in methodology, among other weaknesses.

Glycine is an amino acid that also acts as a neurotransmitter, transmitting signals between neurons. According to a study published in Science, glycine's signalling in the brain and its antidepressant properties may be mediated by a receptor the authors call mGlyR. The research describes this mechanism using computational models, in vitro assays and experiments in mice. According to the authors, this receptor could be a new target for developing antidepressant drugs.

People who have a parent, sibling, or step-sibling with major depression have a higher risk of major depression themselves, according to research based on data from 2.9 million people in Denmark. This risk increases with the number of affected relatives and when exposure to depression occurs in childhood and adolescence, but does not vary by sex or kinship, says the study published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Research concludes that different types of antidepressants are capable of generating resistance to multiple antibiotics, even when administered for short periods of time. The results are published in the journal PNAS.

Physical activity is associated with significant reductions in depressive symptoms in children and adolescents, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in JAMA Pediatrics that included 21 studies with 2,400 participants. The largest decreases in these symptoms were found in those aged 13 years and older.

Two studies published in the journal Nature Communications have found specific characteristics in the microbiota of people with depression, including populations of different ethnicities and habits.