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OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and safety of gabapentin in patients with fibromyalgia. METHODS: A 12-week, randomized, double-blind study was designed to compare gabapentin (1,200-2,400 mg/day) (n = 75 patients) with placebo (n = 75 patients) for efficacy and safety in treating pain associated with fibromyalgia. The primary outcome measure was the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) average pain severity score (range 0-10, where 0 = no pain and 10 = pain as bad as you can imagine). Response to treatment was defined as a reduction of >/=30% in this score. The primary analysis of efficacy for continuous variables was a longitudinal analysis of the intent-to-treat sample, with treatment-by-time interaction as the measure of effect. RESULTS: Gabapentin-treated patients displayed a significantly greater improvement in the BPI average pain severity score (P = 0.015; estimated difference between groups at week 12 = -0.92 [95% confidence interval -1.75, -0.71]). A significantly greater proportion of gabapentin-treated patients compared with placebo-treated patients achieved response at end point (51% versus 31%; P = 0.014). Gabapentin compared with placebo also significantly improved the BPI average pain interference score, the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire total score, the Clinical Global Impression of Severity, the Patient Global Impression of Improvement, the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Sleep Problems Index, and the MOS Short Form 36 vitality score, but not the mean tender point pain threshold or the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale. Gabapentin was generally well tolerated. CONCLUSION: Gabapentin (1,200-2,400 mg/day) is safe and efficacious for the treatment of pain and other symptoms associated with fibromyalgia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Compare surgeon-performed ultrasound versus sestamibi for preoperative parathyroid adenoma localization. Study Design: Single-institutional cohort. Methods: One hundred six consecutive patients undergoing parathyroidectomy at an academic institution between 2004 to 2005 were included. Of those, 103 underwent both surgeon-performed ultrasound and sestamibi-Tc99m localization preoperatively. Primary outcome is sensitivity for adenoma localization to correct quadrant (right vs. left, superior vs. inferior). Results: Hypercalcemia resolved in 97% of patients. Sensitivities for correct quadrant localization for ultrasound versus sestamibi were 87% versus 58% (P < .001). Specificities were 95%. Positive and negative predictive values were 85% versus 78% and 96% versus 87%, respectively. Combined sensitivity was 93%. Sensitivities for correct side localization were 91% and 74% (P = .002). Conclusions: Ultrasound appears more sensitive than sestamibi for localization to correct quadrant or side when performed in-office by the author in this cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current pilot study examined the roles of two cognitive factors - positive alcohol expectancies of social anxiety reduction and drink refusal self-efficacy relevant to social situations - in mediating greater reduction in alcohol behaviors by the Brief Intervention for Socially Anxious Drinkers (BISAD; n=21) compared to an alcohol psychoeducation (n=20) in a sample of college hazardous drinkers with social anxiety. Mediation analysis results indicated that decreased positive alcohol expectancies and increased drink refusal self-efficacy relevant to social situations accounted for an average of 67% of the variance in treatment outcomes as measured by total quantity of alcohol consumption, heavy drinking days and problems related to alcohol use in the past month. Study results may enhance the understanding of cognitive factors' role in alcohol treatment outcomes, which could in turn improve the efficacy of interventions aimed to reduce hazardous drinking and comorbid social anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about rates of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among youth with bipolar spectrum disorders (BSD). As such, the aim of this study is to assess rates and predictors of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among youth with BSD and their caregivers in the United States., Methods: Youth and their main caregiver were recruited from a large pragmatic study cohort. Youth who were aged 8-22 at the time of this data collection, had a bipolar-spectrum disorder diagnosis, had overweight or obesity, and were treated with a second-generation antipsychotic were invited to participate in an online survey and interview assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic., Results: A total of 453 surveys and 341 interviews were completed 07/2021-05/2022 by youth and their caregivers. Sixty-seven percent of caregivers and 63 % of youth reported receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccine uptake rates among youth and caregivers were highly correlated. Predictors of vaccine uptake among youth were older age and living in the Northeast Region of the United States. Predictors of caregiver vaccine uptake were male sex, higher annual household income and not having to quarantine due to COVID-19., Limitations: The sample was small and not a full representation of a population with bipolar-spectrum disorders therefore, the results may not be generalizable. The study design and statistical method do not allow for causal inferences to be made., Conclusions: These findings may aid in targeting interventions to maximize COVID-19 and other vaccine uptake in youth with bipolar disorders and their families., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Author Disclosures: Dr. DelBello has received research support from Allergan, Alkermes, Janssen, Johnson and Johnson, Lundbeck, Myriad, NIMH, Otsuka, PCORI, Pfizer, Shire, and Sunovion. She has received consulting/advisory/board/honoraria support from Alkermes, CMEology, Johnson and Johnson, Medscape, Myriad, and Sage. Dr. Correll has been a consultant and/or advisor to or has received honoraria from: AbbVie, Acadia, Adock Ingram, Alkermes, Allergan, Angelini, Aristo, Biogen, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Car dio Diagnostics, Cerevel, CNX Therapeutics, Compass Pathways, Darnitsa, Delpor, Denovo, Gedeon Richter, Hikma, Holmusk, IntraCellular Therapies, Jamjoom Pharma, Janssen/J&J, Karuna, LB Pharma, Lundbeck, MedAvante-ProPhase, MedInCell, Merck, Mindpax, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, Mylan, Neurocrine, Neurelis, Newron, Noven, Novo Nordisk, Otsuka, Pharmabrain, PPD Biotech, Recordati, Relmada, Reviva, Rovi, Sage, Seqirus, SK Life Science, Sumitomo Pharma America, Sunovion, Sun Pharma, Supernus, Tabuk, Takeda, Teva, Tolmar, Vertex, and Viatris. He provided expert testimony for Janssen and Otsuka. He served on a Data Safety Monitoring Board for Compass Pathways, Denovo, Lundbeck, Relmada, Reviva, Rovi, Supernus, and Teva. He has received grant support from Janssen,Takeda and PCORI. He received royalties from UpToDate and is also a stock option holder of Cardio Diagnostics, Kuleon Biosciences, LB Pharma, Mindpax, and Quantic. Dr. Patino has received research support from NIMH, PCORI, Acadia, Alkermes, Allergan, Janssen, Johnson and Johnson, Lundbeck, Myriad, Otsuka, Pfizer, Sunovion, and Shire. Drs. Klein, Welge, Fornari, and Higdon and Mr. Blom received salary support from PCORI. Ms. Keller and Ms. Wingler declare they have no financial interests. This study was funded by: PCORI Award Number: PCS-1406-19276., (Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objective: Youth with bipolar spectrum disorders (BSD) are frequently prescribed second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs). Nonadherence to treatment often results in increased mood symptoms and diminished quality of life. We examined SGA adherence rates and adherence barriers among youth who have overweight/obesity and are diagnosed with BSD enrolled in a multisite pragmatic clinical trial. Methods: SGA adherence and adherence barriers at baseline via patient- and caregiver report was assessed. Adherence was defined as taking ≥70% of prescribed SGA doses in the past week. The weighted Kappa statistic was used to measure child-caregiver agreement about adherence rates, barriers, and caregiver assistance. Regression analyses were used to examine associations of caregiver assistance, age, sex, race, insurance status, dosing frequency, and number of concomitant medications with adherence. Barriers to adherence were analyzed separately for youth and their caregivers, using logistic regression to assess associations between informant-reported barriers and informant-reported adherence. Results: Participants included 1485 patients and/or caregivers. At baseline, 88.6% of patients self-reported as adherent; 92.0% of caregivers reported their child was adherent. Concordance between patients and caregivers was moderate ( k = 0.42). Approximately, 50% of the sample reported no adherence barriers. Frequently endorsed barriers included forgetting, side effects, being embarrassed to take medications, and preferring to do something else. Concordance between informants regarding adherence barriers was weak ( k = 0.05-0.36). Patients and caregivers who did not endorse adherence barriers reported higher adherence than those who endorsed barriers. Male sex and having once daily dosing of medications were associated with lower adherence. Discussion: One-week patient- and caregiver-reported adherence was high in this sample. Half of the sample reported adherence barriers. Most commonly endorsed barriers were forgetting, side effects, being embarrassed, and preferring to do something else. Caregivers and patients have unique perspectives regarding adherence barriers. Understanding and addressing treatment barriers in clinical practice may facilitate adherence.

Objective: To compare second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) and mood stabilizers (MSs) in youth with a bipolar disorder type I (BD-I) manic/mixed episode., Method: A systematic PubMed/Embase/PsycInfo literature search until December 31, 2023, for randomized trials of SGAs or MSs in patients ≤18 years of age with BD-I manic/mixed episode was conducted. The study included a network meta-analysis comparing treatments regarding mania symptoms and mania response (co-primary outcomes), and secondary efficacy and tolerability outcomes., Results: Eighteen studies (n = 2844, mean age = 11.74, female participants = 48.0%, mean study duration = 5.4 weeks) comparing 6 SGAs (aripiprazole, asenapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, and ziprasidone) and 4 MSs (lithium, oxcarbazepine, topiramate, and valproate) were meta-analyzed. All 6 SGAs outperformed placebo in reducing manic symptomatology, including risperidone (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -1.18, 95% CI = -0.92, -1.45, Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis [CINeMA] = moderate confidence), olanzapine (SMD = -0.77, 95% CI = -0.36, -1.18, low confidence), aripiprazole (SMD = -0.67, 95% CI = -0.33, -1.01, moderate confidence), quetiapine (SMD = -0.60, 95% CI = -0.32, -0.87, high confidence), asenapine (SMD = -0.54, 95% CI = -0.19, -0.89, moderate confidence), and ziprasidone (SMD = -0.43, 95% CI = -0.17, 0.70, low confidence), whereas no mood stabilizer outperformed placebo. Concerning mania response, risperidone (Risk ratio [RR] = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.88, 3.54, low confidence), olanzapine (RR = 2.42, 95% CI = 1.33, 3.54, very low confidence), aripiprazole (RR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.44, 2.92, low confidence), quetiapine (RR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.45n 2.47, moderate confidence), asenapine (RR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.28, 2.55, very low confidence) and lithium (RR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.00, 1.83, p = .049, very low confidence) outperformed placebo, without superiority of other MSs vs placebo. Individually, risperidone was more efficacious in reducing manic symptomatology than all other comparators, except olanzapine and topiramate, yet with low/very low confidence, and was associated with increased prolactin and glucose. Pooled together, SGAs outperformed both placebo and MSs for mania symptom reduction (SMD = -0.68, 95% CI = -0.86, -0.51 and SMD = -0.61, 95% CI = -0.82, -0.40, moderate confidence), and mania response (RR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.53, 2.24 and RR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.33, 2.04, moderate confidence) without differences between MSs and placebo. There were no significant treatment-placebo differences for all-cause discontinuation, whereas lithium, ziprasidone, and oxcarbazepine were associated with more adverse event-related drop-outs than placebo. Most SGAs were associated with more sedation, weight gain, and metabolic issues vs placebo and MSs., Conclusion: SGAs were more efficacious than placebo and MSs in treating acute mania symptoms, however, their use must be carefully weighed against important side effects., (Copyright © 2024 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Youth with a family history of bipolar disorder (BD) may be at increased risk for mood disorders and for developing side effects after antidepressant exposure. The neurobiological basis of these risks remains poorly understood. We aimed to identify biomarkers underlying risk by characterizing abnormalities in the brain connectome of symptomatic youth at familial risk for BD., Methods: Depressed and/or anxious youth (n = 119, age = 14.9 ± 1.6 years) with a family history of BD but no prior antidepressant exposure and typically developing controls (n = 57, age = 14.8 ± 1.7 years) received functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during an emotional continuous performance task. A generalized psychophysiological interaction (gPPI) analysis was performed to compare their brain connectome patterns, followed by machine learning of topological metrics., Results: High-risk youth showed weaker connectivity patterns that were mainly located in the default mode network (DMN) (network weight = 50.1%) relative to controls, and connectivity patterns derived from the visual network (VN) constituted the largest proportion of aberrant stronger pairs (network weight = 54.9%). Global local efficiency (E local , p = .022) and clustering coefficient (C p , p = .029) and nodal metrics of the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) (E local : p < .001; C p : p = .001) in the high-risk group were significantly higher than those in healthy subjects, and similar patterns were also found in the left insula (degree: p = .004; betweenness: p = .005; age-by-group interaction, p = .038) and right hippocampus (degree: p = .003; betweenness: p = .003). The case-control classifier achieved a cross-validation accuracy of 78.4%., Conclusions: Our findings of abnormal connectome organization in the DMN and VN may advance mechanistic understanding of risk for BD. Neuroimaging biomarkers of increased network segregation in the SFG and altered topological centrality in the insula and hippocampus in broader limbic systems may be used to target interventions tailored to mitigate the underlying risk of brain abnormalities in these at-risk youth., (© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)

Introduction: Escitalopram is an effective and generally well-tolerated antidepressant, but children of parents with bipolar disorder (BD) may be at increased risk for adverse events associated with antidepressants, including increased irritability, restlessness, impulsivity, and manic symptoms. This risk may be influenced by polymorphisms in genes encoding cytochrome P450 enzymes ( CYP2C19 or CYP2D6 ), the serotonin transporter ( SLC6A4 ), and the serotonin receptor 2A subtype ( HTR2A ). We explored whether gene-drug interactions influence the emergence of adverse events in depressed and/or anxious youth with a family history of BD. Materials and Methods: Children and adolescents aged 12-17 years with a first-degree relative with bipolar I disorder were treated with escitalopram and monitored for adverse effects, underwent pharmacogenetic testing, and provided serum escitalopram levels. Emergence of adverse events was determined by study clinicians, and symptoms were tracked using the Treatment-Emergent Activation and Suicidality Assessment Profile (TEASAP) and Pediatric Adverse Events Rating Scale. Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium guidelines were used to determine CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 phenotypes. Results: Slower CYP2C19 metabolizers had greater dose-normalized 24-hour area under the curve (AUC 0-24 ; p  = 0.025), trough concentrations (C trough ; p  = 0.013), and elimination half-lives (t 1/2 ; p  < 0.001). CYP2D6 phenotype was not significantly associated with any pharmacokinetic parameter. Slower CYP2D6 metabolizers had increased TEASAP akathisia ( p  = 0.015) scores. HTR2A A/A and A/G genotypes were associated with increased TEASAP "self-injury, suicidality, and harm to others" subscale scores ( p  = 0.017). Escitalopram maximum concentration, AUC 0-24 , CYP2C19 phenotype, and SLC6A4 genotype were not associated with adverse events. Conclusions: CYP2C19 phenotype influences escitalopram pharmacokinetics whereas CYP2D6 phenotype does not. Slower CYP2D6 metabolism was associated with increased akathisia, and HTR2A A/A or A/G genotypes were associated with increased risk of self-harm or harm to others. Larger cohorts are needed to identify associations between genetic test results and antidepressant-associated adverse events. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02553161.

Objectives: To describe cangrelor use in patients on concurrent mechanical circulatory support who underwent postpercutaneous coronary intervention., Design: A single-center, retrospective, cohort study., Setting: At a quaternary teaching hospital., Participants: Included patients were ≥18 years old, admitted to the intensive care unit, underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with stent placement, initiated on mechanical circulatory support, and received cangrelor in the postpercutaneous coronary intervention period., Interventions: Retrospectively analyzed cangrelor use in patients on mechanical circulatory support., Measurements and Main Results: The primary outcome was the incidence of thrombosis and bleeding events during cangrelor administration. Additional outcomes included initial cangrelor dose, number of cangrelor dose adjustments per patient, survival from mechanical circulatory support, and mortality within 30 days. Overall, 19 patients were included in this study. In total, 14 patients (74%) experienced a bleeding event; however, 93% were classified as a minor bleed. There was 1 major bleeding event. There were no thrombotic events observed during cangrelor administration. The median initial cangrelor dose was 0.5 µg/kg/min. There were 10 patients who underwent dose adjustment, with the majority being dose reductions based on antiplatelet monitoring (VerifyNow assay). Survival from mechanical circulatory support occurred in 17 patients (89%), and 30-day mortality occurred in 8 patients (42%)., Conclusions: For patients receiving cangrelor as a bridge to oral P2Y12 inhibitor therapy on mechanical circulatory support, the authors observed a low rate of major bleeding and no episodes of thrombosis. Lower starting doses appear feasible with no observed increased risk of thrombotic complications. Future studies are needed to confirm these observations., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Many features of self-administration behavior may be explained by reference to the properties of schedules of reinforcement. Schedules alter the probability of a behavior being reinforced and thereby increase, or decrease, the frequency of the behavior and fixed ratio (FR) magnitude reportedly alters the rate of responding to cocaine. A pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic interaction theory states that lever-pressing behavior is induced only when cocaine levels in the body are above the priming/remission threshold and below the satiety threshold-a range termed the compulsion zone. This theory successfully explains cocaine self-administration in rats on a progressive ratio and the FR1 schedule., Objectives: To determine the effects of high FR magnitude on the rate of self-administration of cocaine and the rate of lever-pressing behavior when cocaine levels are within the compulsion zone., Methods: Rats acquired cocaine self-administration on an FR1 schedule and then were switched to sessions that started with FR1 and then FR 5, 10, 20, or 50. An only FR1 session was run each week between FR1/FR50 sessions and then only FR1 sessions were conducted for several weeks., Results: Interinjection intervals at a unit dose of 3 µmol/kg were regular at both FR1 and FR50 but were longer by the time required to complete the 50 presses. When responding by rats was maintained under an FR50 schedule of cocaine presentations, compared to baseline FR1 sessions, dramatic increases in the number of lever-presses were observed after access to cocaine was terminated, a previously unreported finding. However, lever-pressing occurred only when cocaine levels were in the compulsion zone, and this duration was unchanged. The increase in lever-pressing persisted for weeks. Interinjection intervals at FR1 were not altered after exposure to FR50., Conclusions: Although previously considered key to understanding the regulation of cocaine self-administration behavior, FR magnitude simply increased interinjection intervals by the time required to complete 50 lever-presses. The dramatic increase in the rate of lever-pressing was caused by the high FR schedule rather than cocaine. The utility of the schedule-induced increase in the rate of lever-pressing is unclear. The compulsion zone theory provides a rational pharmacological basis for understanding cocaine self-administration behavior., Competing Interests: The authors have indicated that they have no conflicts of interest regarding the content of this article., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Objective: Sexual and gender minority youth assigned female at birth (SGM-AFAB) experience higher rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) than heterosexual and cisgender youth. To inform efforts to reduce these disparities, we explored whether IPV risk factors identified in the general population are associated with IPV among SGM-AFAB young people., Method: Using multiwave longitudinal data from a 400 SGM-AFAB youth (ages 16-20 at baseline), we estimated between- and within-persons effects of demographic/contextual characteristics (gender, sexual identity, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status), developmental/background factors (childhood violence), and psychological/behavioral factors (antisocial behavior, depression, problematic alcohol and cannabis use) on a range of IPV experiences (victimization and perpetration of psychological, physical, sexual, and SGM-specific IPV)., Results: In this SGM-AFAB sample, IPV experiences were associated with many traditional risk factors identified in the general population, including race, economic stress, childhood violence, antisocial behavior, depression, and use of substances (particularly cannabis). In contrast to previous research, we did not find that SGM youth with transgender or gender nonbinary identities, or with bi- or pan-sexual identities, were at greater risk for IPV than other SGM youth. Very few putative risk factors were associated with SGM-specific IPV., Conclusion: Findings suggest SGM youth could benefit from IPV prevention approaches that target common risk factors at multiple ecological levels (policies to reduce poverty and racism, parenting programs, interventions to reduce mental health and substance use problems). Continued research is needed to explore how risk for IPV among SGM-AFAB youth may vary by gender identity, sexual identity, and stigma-based experiences.

Objectives: Evaluate differences in sustained attention (SAT) and associated neurofunctional profiles between bipolar disorder type I (BD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and healthy comparison (HC) youth., Methods: Adolescent participants, aged 12-17 years, with BD (n = 30) and ADHD (n = 28) and HC adolescents (n = 26) underwent structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while completing a modified Continuous Performance Task-Identical Pairs task. Attentional load was modifying in this task using three levels of image distortion (0 %, 25 % and 50 % image distortion). Task related fMRI activation and performance measures: perceptual sensitivity index (PSI); response bias (RB) and response time (RT); were calculated and compared between groups., Results: BD participants displayed lower perceptual sensitivity index (0 % p = 0.012; 25 % p = 0.015; 50 % p = 0.036) and higher values of response bias across levels of distortion (0 % p = 0.002, 25 % p = 0.001, and 50 % p = 0.008) as compared to HC. No statistically significant differences were observed for PSI and RB between BD and ADHD groups. No difference in RT were detected. Between-group and within-group differences in task related fMRI measures were detected in several clusters. In a region of interest (ROI) analysis of these clusters comparing BD and ADHD confirmed differences between these two groups., Conclusions: Compared with HC, BD participants displayed SAT deficits. Increased attentional load revealed that BD participants had lower activation in brain regions associated with performance and integration of neural processes in SAT. ROI analysis between BD and ADHD participants shows that the differences were likely not attributable to ADHD comorbidity, suggesting SAT deficits were distinct to the BD group., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Luis R. Patino has received research support from Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Otsuka, Novartis, Lundbeck, Sunovion, AbbVie, Martek and Shire. Caleb M. Adler has received research support from National Institute of Mental Health, Johnson and Johnson, Merck, Forest, Otsuka, Purdue, Takeda, Pfizer, Shire, Sunovion, and SyneuRx; has received consulting/honoraria from Sunovion. Jeffry A. Welge has received research support from National Institute of Mental Health. Melissa P DelBello has received research support from National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Amylin, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Otsuka, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Martek, Novartis, Lundbeck, Pfizer, Sunovion, and Shire; has received consulting/advisory board/honoraria/travel support from Pfizer, Lundbeck, Sunovian, Supernus, and Otsuka. The other authors have no disclosures. The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objectives: To characterize the neuroanatomy of BD in youth and its correlation to clinical characteristics., Methods: The current study includes a sample of 105 unmedicated youth with first-episode BD, aged between 10.1 and 17.9 years, and 61 healthy comparison adolescents, aged between 10.1 and 17.7 years, who were matched for age, race, sex, socioeconomic status, intelligence quotient (IQ), and education level. T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images were obtained using a 4 T MRI scanner. Freesurfer (V6.0) was used to preprocess and parcellate the structural data, and 68 cortical and 12 subcortical regions were considered for statistical comparisons. The relationship between morphological deficits and clinical and demographic characteristics were evaluated using linear models., Results: Compared with healthy youth, youth with BD had decreased cortical thickness in frontal, parietal, and anterior cingulate regions. These youth also showed decreased gray matter volumes in 6 of the 12 subcortical regions examined including thalamus, putamen, amygdala and caudate. In further subgroup analyses, we found that youth with BD with comorbid attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or with psychotic symptoms had more significant deficits in subcortical gray matter volume., Limitations: We cannot provide information about the course of structural changes and impact of treatment and illness progression., Conclusions: Our findings indicate that youth with BD have significant neurostructural deficits in both cortical and subcortical regions mainly located in the regions related to emotion processing and regulation. Variability in clinical characteristics and comorbidities may contribute to the severity of anatomic alterations in this disorder., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Dr. Strawn has received research support from the National Institutes of Health (NIMH/NIEHS/NICHD) as well as Allergan, Neuronetics and Otsuka. He has received material support from and provided consultation to Myriad Genetics and receives royalties from the publication of two texts (Springer) and serves as an author for UpToDate and an Associate Editor for Current Psychiatry. He has spoken in CME presentations for Neuroscience Education Institute and CMEology. Dr. Strawn also has provided consultation to the FDA and Intracellular Therapeutics. Dr. Sweeney consults to VeriSci. Dr. Patino and Dr. DelBello have received research support from NIMH, PCORI, Acadia, Alkermes, Allergan, Janssen, Johnson and Johnson, Lundbeck, Myriad, Otsuka, Pfizer, Sunovion and Shire. Dr. DelBello has provided consultation or advisory board services for Alkermes, Allergan, CMEology, Janssen, Johnson and Johnson, Lundbeck, Medscape, Myriad, Pfizer, Sage, and Sunovion. All other authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Depression associated with bipolar disorder (BD) is more common compared to mania. Cognitive, family, and quality-of-life (QOL) factors associated with pediatric bipolar depression are understudied. The goal of this study was to evaluate cognitive, family environmental, and QOL characteristics of youth with bipolar depression. Methods: Thirty-two youth (12-18 years of age) with BD type I currently depressed were recruited from inpatient and outpatient setting. Subjects were assessed using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), the Family Environment Scale (FES), and the Child Health Questionnaire-Parental-Form 50 (CHQ-PF50). Results were compared with population norms and the relationship between these domains was calculated. Results: Youth with depression associated with BD did not show significant impairment in executive functions. They displayed impaired family environment in the domains of cohesion, independence, achievement orientation, and organization. Youth also displayed impairments in the psychosocial health domains compared with the population normative data. The CHQ-Psychosocial health significantly negatively correlated with the BRIEF-Global Executive Control score ( r  = -0.76, p  < 0.0001). Conclusion: Depression in youth with BD is associated with impairments in family functioning and QOL. Impairments in psychosocial QOL are associated with cognitive functioning. Further intervention studies examining executive functioning and family environment as treatment targets are needed. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier:NCT00232414.

Background: In order to identify biomarkers of prodromal mood disorders, we examined functional brain activation in children and adolescent at familial risk for bipolar disorder., Methods: Offspring of parents with bipolar I disorder (at-risk youth; N = 115, mean ± SD age: 13.6 ± 2.7; 54 % girls) and group-matched offspring of healthy parents (healthy controls; N = 58, mean ± SD age: 14.2 ± 3.0; 53 % girls) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a continuous performance task with emotional and neutral distracters. At baseline, at-risk youth had no history of mood episodes or psychotic disorders. Subjects were followed longitudinally until developing their first mood episode or being lost to follow-up. Standard event-related region-of-interest (ROI) analyses were performed to compare brain activation at baseline between groups and in survival analyses., Results: At baseline, at-risk youth exhibited reduced activation to emotional distracters in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) (p = 0.04). Activation was not significantly altered in additional ROIs, including left VLPFC, bilateral amygdala, caudate, or putamen. In those at-risk youth who developed their first mood episode during follow-up (n = 17), baseline increased activation in right VLPFC, right caudate, and right putamen activation predicted the development of a mood episode., Limitations: Sample size of converters, loss to follow-up, and number of statistical comparisons., Conclusions: We found preliminary evidence that a reduced activation in right VLPFC might be a marker of risk for or resilience to mood disorders in at-risk youth. Conversely, an increased activation in the right VLPFC, caudate, and putamen might indicate an increased risk for the later development of their first mood episode., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest Dr. Nery's spouse is an employee of Eli Lilly & Co. Dr. Patino has received research support from Acadia, Allergan, Janssen, Johnson and Johnson, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Pfizer, Sunovion and Supernus. Dr. Strawn has received research support from Edgemont, Shire, AbbVie, Otsuka, the Yung Family Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (NICHD, NIMH and NIEHS). He receives royalties from Springer Publishing for two texts and has received material support from Myriad genetics and honoraria from CMEology and Neuroscience Educational Institute. He provided consultation to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a Special Government Employee and consulted to Intracellular Therapeutics. Dr. Adler has spoken for Otsuka and Janssen. He has received research support from Merck, Forest, and Alkermes, and provided consultation for Janssen. Dr. Strakowski chairs Data Safety and Monitoring Boards for Sunovion and has grant funding (through the University of Texas) from Janssen. Dr. DelBello is on the lecture bureau for Otsuka; has received research support from Acadia, Allergan, Janssen, Johnson and Johnson, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Pfizer, Sunovion and Supernus; and has provided consultation or advisory board services for Alkermes, Allergan, Assurex, CMEology, Janssen, Johnson and Johnson, Lundbeck, Neuronetics, Otsuka, Pfizer, Sunovion and Supernus. The remaining authors reported no conflicts of interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: While pain self-management programs can significantly improve patient outcomes, poor adherence is common and the need for research on predictors of adherence has been noted. A potential, but commonly overlooked, predictor is cognitive function. Our aim, then, was to examine the relative influence of various cognitive functional domains on engagement with an online pain self-management program., Method: A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial testing the impact of E-health (a 4-month subscription to the online Goalistics Chronic Pain Management Program) plus treatment as usual, relative to treatment as usual alone, on pain and opioid dose outcomes in adults receiving long-term opioid therapy of morphine equivalence dose ≥20 mg; 165 E-health participants who completed an on-line neurocognitive battery were included in this sub-analysis. A variety of demographic, clinical, and symptom rating scales were also examined. We hypothesized that better processing speed and executive functions at baseline would predict engagement with the 4-month E-health subscription., Results: Ten functional cognitive domains were identified using exploratory factor analysis and the resultant factor scores applied for hypothesis testing. The strongest predictors of E-health engagement were selective attention, and response inhibition and speed domains. An explainable machine learning algorithm improved classification accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity., Conclusions: The results suggest that cognition, especially selective attention, inhibitory control, and processing speed, is predictive of online chronic pain self-management program engagement. Future research to replicate and extend these findings seems warranted., Clinicaltrials.gov Registration Number: NCT03309188.

Disruptions in the limbic system, and in emotion regulation circuitry that supports affect modulation, have been reported during acute manic episodes of bipolar disorder (BD). The impact of pharmacological treatment on these deficits, especially in youth, remains poorly characterized. 107 youths with acute manic or mixed episodes of bipolar I disorder and 60 group-matched healthy controls were recruited. Youth with bipolar disorder were randomized to double-blind treatment with quetiapine or lithium and assessed weekly. Task-based fMRI studies were performed using an identical pairs continuous performance task (CPT-IP) at pre-treatment baseline and post-treatment weeks one and six. Region of interest analyses focused on the limbic system and ventral PFC - basal ganglia - thalamocortical loop structures known to be involved in emotion regulation. Changes in regional activation were compared between the two treatment groups, and pretreatment regional activation was used to predict treatment outcome. Mania treatment scores improved more rapidly in the quetiapine than lithium treated group, as did significant normalization of neural activation toward that of healthy individuals in left amygdala (p = 0.007), right putamen (p < 0.001), and right globus pallidus (p = 0.003). Activation changes in the right putamen were correlated with reduction of mania symptoms. The limbic and emotion regulation system activation at baseline and week one predicted treatment outcome in youth with bipolar disorder with significant accuracy (up to 87.5%). Our findings document more rapid functional brain changes associated with quetiapine than lithium treatment in youth with bipolar disorder, with most notable changes in the limbic system and emotion regulation circuitry. Pretreatment alterations in these regions predicted treatment response. These findings advance understanding of regional brain alterations in youth with bipolar disorder, and show that fMRI data can predict treatment outcome before it can be determined clinically, highlighting the potential utility of fMRI biomarkers for early prediction of treatment outcomes in bipolar disorder.Clinical Trials Registration: Name: Multimodal Neuroimaging of Treatment Effects in Adolescent Mania. URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ . Registration number: NCT00893581., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.)

Background: Lipoprotein subfraction concentrations have been shown to change as gestation progresses in resource-rich settings. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the impact of pregnancy on different-sized lipoprotein particle concentrations and compositions in a resource-poor setting., Method: Samples were collected from pregnant women in rural Gambia at enrollment (8-20 weeks), 20 weeks, and 30 weeks of gestation. Concentrations of different-sized high-density, low-density, and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein particles (HDL, LDL, and TRL, respectively) were measured by nuclear magnetic resonance in 126 pooled plasma samples from a subset of women. HDL was isolated and the HDL proteome evaluated using mass spectroscopy. Subfraction concentrations from women in The Gambia were also compared to concentrations in women in the U.S. in mid gestation., Results: Total lipoprotein particles and all-sized TRL, LDL, and HDL particle concentrations increased during gestation, with the exception of medium-sized LDL and HDL particles which decreased. Subfraction concentrations were not associated with infant birth weights, though relationships were found between some lipoprotein subfraction concentrations in women with normal versus low birth weight infants (< 2500 kg). HDL's proteome also changed during gestation, showing enrichment in proteins associated with metal ion binding, hemostasis, lipid metabolism, protease inhibitors, proteolysis, and complement activation. Compared to women in the U.S., Gambian women had lower large- and small-sized LDL and HDL concentrations, but similar medium-sized LDL and HDL concentrations., Conclusions: Most lipoprotein subfraction concentrations increase throughout pregnancy in Gambian women and are lower in Gambian vs U.S. women, the exception being medium-sized LDL and HDL particle concentrations which decrease during gestation and are similar in both cohorts of women. The proteomes of HDL also change in ways to support gestation. These changes warrant further study to determine how a lack of change or different changes could impact negative pregnancy outcomes., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Disrupted topological organization of brain functional networks has been widely reported in bipolar disorder. However, the potential clinical implications of structural connectome abnormalities have not been systematically investigated. The present study included 109 unmedicated subjects with acute mania who were assigned to 8 weeks of treatment with quetiapine or lithium and 60 healthy controls. High resolution 3D-T1 weighted magnetic resonance images (MRI) were collected from both groups at baseline, week 1 and week 8. Brain networks were constructed based on the similarity of morphological features across brain regions and analyzed using graph theory approaches. At baseline, individuals with bipolar disorder illness showed significantly lower clustering coefficient (C p ) (p = 0.012) and normalized characteristic path length (λ) (p = 0.004) compared to healthy individuals, as well as differences in nodal centralities across multiple brain regions. No baseline or post-treatment differences were identified between drug treatment conditions, so change after treatment were considered in the combined treatment groups. Relative to healthy individuals, differences in C p , λ and cingulate gyrus nodal centrality were significantly reduced with treatment; changes in these parameters correlated with changes in Young Mania Rating Scale scores. Baseline structural connectome matrices significantly differentiated responder and non-responder groups at 8 weeks with 74% accuracy. Global and nodal network alterations evident at baseline were normalized with treatment and these changes associated with symptomatic improvement. Further, baseline structural connectome matrices predicted treatment response. These findings suggest that structural connectome abnormalities are clinically significant and may be useful for predicting clinical outcome of treatment and tracking drug effects on brain anatomy in bipolar disorder., Clinical Trials Registration: Name: Functional and Neurochemical Brain Changes in First-episode Bipolar Mania Following Successful Treatment with Lithium or Quetiapine. URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ ., Registration Number: NCT00609193. Name: Neurofunctional and Neurochemical Markers of Treatment Response in Bipolar Disorder. URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ ., Registration Number: NCT00608075., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.)

Background: Emerging research suggests that food intake timing, eating behavior and food preference are associated with aspects of the circadian system function but the role that the circadian system may play in binge eating (BE) behavior in humans remains unclear., Objective: To systematically evaluate the evidence for circadian system involvement in BE behavior., Methods: Systematic searches of PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus were performed for reports published from inception until May 2020 (PROSPERO Registration CRD42020186325). Searches were conducted by combining Medical Subject Headings related to the circadian system, BE behavior, and/or interventions. Observational and interventional studies in humans with BE behavior published in peer-review journals in the English language were included. Studies were assessed using quality and risk of bias tools (AXIS, ROB 2.0, or ROBINS)., Results: The search produced 660 articles, 51 of which were included in this review. Of these articles, 46 were observational studies and 5 were interventional trials. Evidence from these studies suggests that individuals with BE behavior tend to have more food intake, more binge cravings, and more BE episodes later in the day. Hormonal and day/night locomotor activity rhythm disturbances may be associated with BE behavior. Furthermore, late diurnal preference ("eveningness") was associated with BE behavior and chronobiological interventions that shift the circadian clock earlier (e.g., morning bright light therapy) were found to possibly decrease BE behavior. Substantive clinical overlap exists between BE and night eating behavior. However, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding their potential relationship with the circadian system. Limitations include the lack of studies that use best-established techniques to assess the chronobiology of BE behavior, heterogeneity of participants, diagnostic criteria, and study design, which preclude a meta-analytic approach., Conclusion: Current evidence, although limited, suggests that the circadian system may play a role in the etiology of BE behavior. Further mechanistic studies are needed to fully characterize a potential role of the circadian system in BE behavior. A chronobiological approach to studying BE behavior may lead to identification of its neurobiological components and development of novel therapeutic interventions., Systematic Review Registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display&#95;record.php?ID=CRD42020186325], identifier [CRD42020186325]., Competing Interests: FR-N receives grant support from the National Institute of Mental Health K23 Award (K23MH120503) and from a 2017 NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation; is the inventor on a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent # 10,857,356; and has received non-financial research support from Soterix Medical. FS served on the Board of Directors for the Sleep Research Society and has received consulting fees from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. FS interests were reviewed and managed by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Partners HealthCare in accordance with their conflict-of-interest policies. FS consultancies are not related to the current work. HB served on the scientific advisory board for Natrol, LLC, and Moving Mindz, Pty Ltd, and is a consultant for F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. CG reports no competing interests but reports several broader interests which did not influence this manuscript including honoraria for lectures, CME activities, and presentations at scientific conferences and Royalties from Guilford Press and Taylor & Francis Publishers for academic books. SM is or has been a consultant to or member of the scientific advisory boards of F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. Idorsia, Myriad, Novo Nordisk, Otsuka, Sipnose, Sunovion, and Takeda. She is or has been a principal or co-investigator on studies sponsored by Brainsway, Idorsia, Janssen, Marriott Foundation, Myriad, National Institute of Mental Health, Novo Nordisk, Otsuka, and Sunovion. She is also an inventor on United States Patent No. 6,323,236 B2, Use of Sulfamate Derivatives for Treating Impulse Control Disorders, and along with the patent’s assignee, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States has received payments from Johnson & Johnson, which has exclusive rights under the patent. AG is a paid consultant for Signant Health. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Romo-Nava, Guerdjikova, Mori, Scheer, Burgess, McNamara, Welge, Grilo and McElroy.)

Objectives: To describe angiotensin II (ANGII) use in patients on mechanical circulatory support (MCS). To evaluate the efficacy and safety of ANGII in patients with shock on MCS., Design: Retrospective cohort study., Setting: A single-center, quaternary care academic medical center., Participants: The study comprised critically ill patients on MCS., Interventions: None., Measurements and Main Results: Fourteen patients were included in this retrospective analysis. The median age was 54 years (44.8, 68.3) and 78.6% were men. Six patients were receiving venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support, 4 patients were receiving venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support, and 4 patients were on left ventricular assist devices. Five patients (36%) achieved hemodynamic response to ANGII at 3 hours, defined as a mean arterial pressure (MAP) of ≥65 mmHg or a 10-mmHg increase in MAP with a decrease or no change in total vasopressor dose. Overall, the median MAP increased from 61 mmHg (51, 73) at baseline to 66 mmHg (58, 71) at 3 hours, and the median norepinephrine dose decreased from 0.45 µg/kg/min (0.28, 0.6) at baseline to 0.2 µg/kg/min (0.18, 0.32) at 3 hours. The in-hospital mortality rate was 78.6%. Two patients experienced severe adverse drug events and 1 patient had a sentinel thrombotic event., Conclusions: This study suggested that ANGII may provide a salvage treatment option in patients on MCS with refractory vasodilatory shock. There are several safety considerations with the use of ANGII in these patients. Prospective randomized controlled trials are needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ANGII in patients on MCS., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest None., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Disruptions in cognition are a clinically significant feature of bipolar disorder (BD). The effects of different treatments on these deficits and the brain systems that support them remain to be established., Method: A continuous performance test was administered to 55 healthy controls and 71 acutely ill youths with mixed/manic BD to assess vigilance and working memory during task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. Patients, who were untreated for at least 7 days at baseline, and controls were scanned at pretreatment baseline and at weeks 1 and 6. After baseline testing, patients (n = 71) were randomly assigned to 6-week double-blind treatment with lithium (n = 26; 1.0-1.2 mEq/L) or quetiapine (n = 45; 400-600 mg). Weighted seed-based connectivity (wSBC) was used to assess regional brain interactions during the attention task compared with the control condition., Results: At baseline, youths with BD showed reduced connectivity between bilateral anterior cingulate cortex and both left ventral lateral prefrontal cortex and left insula and increased connectivity between left ventral lateral prefrontal cortex and left temporal pole, left orbital frontal cortex and right postcentral gyrus, and right amygdala and right occipital pole compared with controls. At 1-week follow-up, quetiapine, but not lithium, treatment led to a significant shift of connectivity patterns toward those of the controls. At week 6, compared with baseline, there was no difference between treatment conditions, at which time both patient groups showed significant normalization of brain connectivity toward that of controls., Conclusion: Functional alterations in several brain regions associated with cognitive processing and the integration of cognitive and affective processing were demonstrated in untreated youths with BD before treatment. Treatment reduced several of these alterations, with significant effects at week 1 only in the quetiapine treatment group. Normalization of functional connectivity might represent a promising biomarker for early target engagement in youth with BD., Clinical Trial Registration Information: Multimodal Neuroimaging of Treatment Effects in Adolescent Mania; https://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT00893581., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objective: To evaluate the effects of fish oil (FO), a source of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), on emotion-generated corticolimbic functional connectivity in depressed youth at high risk for developing bipolar I disorder., Methods: Thirty-nine antidepressant-free youth with a current depressive disorder diagnosis and a biological parent with bipolar I disorder were randomized to 12-week double-blind treatment with FO or placebo. At baseline and endpoint, fMRI (4 Tesla) scans were obtained while performing a continuous performance task with emotional and neutral distractors (CPT-END). Seed-to-voxel functional connectivity analyses were performed using bilateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and amygdala (AMY) seeds. Measures of depression, mania, global symptom severity, and erythrocyte fatty acids were obtained., Results: Erythrocyte EPA+DHA composition increased significantly in the FO group (+47%, p ≤ 0.0001) but not in the placebo group (-10%, p = 0.11). Significant group by time interactions were found for functional connectivity between the left OFC and the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) and between the right AMY and right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG). OFC-STG connectivity increased in the FO group (p = 0.0001) and decreased in the placebo group (p = 0.0019), and AMY-ITG connectivity decreased in the FO group (p = 0.0014) and increased in the placebo group (p < 0.0001). In the FO group, but not placebo group, the decrease in AMY-ITG functional connectivity correlated with decreases in Childhood Depression Rating Scale-Revised and Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale scores., Conclusions: In depressed high-risk youth FO supplementation alters emotion-generated corticolimbic functional connectivity which correlates with changes in symptom severity ratings., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objectives: Previous studies and meta-analyses suggested that N-acetylcysteine (NAC) was superior to placebo in improving depression in bipolar disorder. However, more recent data, including two larger trials, found that NAC was no more effective than placebo. We conducted a meta-analysis to appraise the possible efficacy of NAC in treating bipolar depression., Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of NAC as a treatment augmentation strategy for bipolar depression was carried out in PubMed (1966-2020). We utilized random-effect analysis to evaluate improvement in depressive symptoms from baseline to endpoint as the primary efficacy measure., Results: Six trials including 248 patients were included. Treatment augmentation with NAC showed a moderate effect size favoring NAC over placebo (d = 0.45, 95% C.I.: 0.06-0.84). There was substantial heterogeneity (I 2  = 49%). Meta-regression analyses did not identify any moderator that might explain variation in heterogeneity, including baseline depressive symptom scores, mean NAC dose, or duration of study., Conclusions: Results from six clinical trials suggest that treatment augmentation with NAC for bipolar depression appears to be superior to placebo, with a moderate effect size, but a large confidence interval. Larger clinical trials, investigating possible moderating factors, such as NAC dose, treatment duration, baseline depression severity, or chronicity of illness, are warranted., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: To compare the efficacy and tolerability of lithium versus quetiapine for the treatment of manic or mixed episodes in youths with early course bipolar I disorder. Methods: Six-week, randomized, double-blind clinical trial of lithium versus quetiapine for the treatment of adolescents with acute manic/mixed episode. Target dose of quetiapine dose was adjusted to a target dose of 400-600 mg and target serum level for lithium was 1.0-1.2 mEq/L. Primary outcome measure was baseline-to-endpoint change in the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS). Secondary outcomes were treatment response (50% or more decrease from baseline in YMRS score) and remission (YMRS score ≤12, Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised [CDRS-R] total score ≤28 and Clinical Global Impression Bipolar Severity Scale [CGI-BP-S] overall score of ≤3, respectively). Results: A total of 109 patients were randomized (quetiapine = 58 and lithium = 51). Participants in the quetiapine treatment group showed a significantly greater reduction in YMRS score than those in the lithium group (-11.0 vs. -13.2; p  < 0.001; effect size 0.39). Response rate was 72% in the quetiapine group and 49% in the lithium group ( p  = 0.012); no differences in remission rates between groups were observed. Most frequent side effects for lithium were headaches (60.8%), nausea (39.2%), somnolence (27.5%), and tremor (27.5%); for quetiapine somnolence (63.8%), headaches (55.2%), tremor (36.2%), and dizziness (36.2%) were evidenced. Participants receiving quetiapine experienced more somnolence ( p  < 0.001), dizziness ( p  < 0.05), and weight gain ( p  < 0.05). Conclusions: Treatment with both lithium and quetiapine led to clinical improvement. Most study participants in this study experienced a clinical response; however, less than half of the participants in this study achieved symptomatic remission. The head-to-head comparison of both treatment groups showed quetiapine was associated with a statistically significant greater rate of response and overall symptom reduction compared with lithium. Trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov NCT00893581.

Objective: To investigate whether poor antidepressant tolerability is associated with functional brain changes in children and adolescents of parents with bipolar I disorder (at-risk youth)., Methods: Seventy-three at-risk youth (ages 9-20 years old) who participated in a prospective study and had an available baseline functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan were included. Research records were reviewed for the incidence of adverse reactions related to antidepressant exposure during follow-up. The sample was divided among at-risk youth without antidepressant exposure (n=21), at-risk youth with antidepressant exposure and no adverse reaction (n=12), at-risk youth with antidepressant-related adverse reaction (n=21), and healthy controls (n=20). The fMRI task was a continuous performance test with emotional distracters. Region-of-interest mean activation in brain areas of the fronto-limbic emotional circuit was compared among groups., Results: Right amygdala activation in response to emotional distracters significantly differed among groups (F3,66 = 3.1, p = 0.03). At-risk youth with an antidepressant-related adverse reaction had the lowest amygdala activation, while at-risk youth without antidepressant exposure had the highest activation (p = 0.004)., Conclusions: Decreased right amygdala activation in response to emotional distracters is associated with experiencing an antidepressant-related adverse reaction in at-risk youth. Further studies to determine whether amygdala activation is a useful biomarker for antidepressant-related adverse events are needed.

Pregnancy is accompanied by significant physiological changes, which can impact the health and development of the fetus and mother. Pregnancy-induced changes in plasma lipoproteins are well documented, with modest to no impact observed on the generic measure of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. However, the impact of pregnancy on the concentration and composition of HDL subspecies has not been examined in depth. In this prospective study, we collected plasma from 24 nonpregnant and 19 pregnant women in their second trimester. Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), we quantified 11 different lipoprotein subspecies from plasma by size, including three in the HDL class. We observed an increase in the number of larger HDL particles in pregnant women, which were confirmed by tracking phospholipids across lipoproteins using high-resolution gel-filtration chromatography. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), we identified 87 lipid-associated proteins across size-speciated fractions. We report drastic shifts in multiple protein clusters across different HDL size fractions in pregnant females compared with nonpregnant controls that have major implications on HDL function. These findings significantly elevate our understanding of how changes in lipoprotein metabolism during pregnancy could impact the health of both the fetus and the mother., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with the contents of this article., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Study Objective: This report analyzes the comparative costs, efficacy and side effects of a newer, more expensive reversal drug, sugammadex, with its generic counterpart, neostigmine combined with glycopyrrolate, or no reversal agent when used routinely to reverse rocuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade in adult patients., Design: Cost analysis., Methods: We constructed a decision model to analyze the costs associated with the choice of reversal drug and differences in reversal time, occurrence of postoperative nausea or vomiting (PONV), and residual blockade requiring unplanned postoperative mechanical ventilation (UPMV). We selected variables that demonstrated meaningful differences in meta-analyses of published studies and/or had significant associated costs. We used data from local hospital system information, meta-analysis of published studies, and the general literature to construct base-case scenarios and sensitivity analyses. We performed the analysis from the perspective of a single hospital system. Costs were in 2019 U.S. dollars., Results: Cost analysis suggested that reversal with sugammadex is preferable to neostigmine or no reversal drug when operating room (OR) time was valued at ≥$8.60/min (base case $32.49/min). Net costs of sugammadex were less than no treatment or neostigmine reversal when the probability of UPMV exceeded 0.019 and 0.036, respectively. Neither sugammadex nor neostigmine reversal was preferable to no treatment in a base-case analysis that considered the effect of the reversal agent on only drug and PONV costs, disregarding costs of OR time or UPMV., Conclusions: Routine reversal with sugammadex is preferable to choosing neostigmine or no reversal drug when accounting for potential savings in OR time. Sugammadex might also be a reasonable choice for patients at high risk of UPMV. If the cost of OR time is not considered, the analysis does not support the routine use of sugammadex in patients with perceived increased risk or solely to reduce PONV., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To determine whether MR spectroscopic assessment of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy specimens from suspicious breast lesions could be used to improve the diagnostic utility of FNA biopsies for the characterization of breast lesions., Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, a previously reported technique using high-spatial-resolution proton MR spectroscopy was modified and used to examine the utility of FNA biopsies in the evaluation of suspicious breast lesions. Tissue samples from 115 lesions (from 102 women; average age, 54 years) were excised by using FNA and core biopsies and were collected between September 7, 2012, and April 11, 2014. Histologic results from core biopsy specimens determined the lesions to be benign ( n = 55), invasive ductal carcinoma ( n = 51), invasive lobular carcinoma ( n = 5), or ductal carcinoma in situ ( n = 4). Measures of phosphocholine (PC), glycerophosphocholine, and choline relative to each other and to total creatine (tCr) were obtained from usable spectra. Planned comparisons among lesion groups were carried out using t test contrasts, and differences of each contrast level from zero were judged significant when the two-tailed P value was less than .05., Results: Of the 115 samples, 69 (60%) yielded no usable MR spectra. Analysis of the 46 with usable spectra found that only the difference in PC/tCr between benign and cancer lesions was statistically significant ( P = .028)., Conclusion: Given that 60% of FNA biopsy specimens yielded no usable spectra and that results were largely inconclusive when derived from usable spectra, the combined MR and FNA technique, as modified and implemented in this study, is of little value for detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. Keywords: Breast, MR-Spectroscopy, Neoplasms-Primary© RSNA, 2020., Competing Interests: Disclosures of Conflicts of Interest: R.A.K. disclosed no relevant relationships. J.H.L. disclosed no relevant relationships. J.A.W. disclosed no relevant relationships. J.A.D. disclosed no relevant relationships. W.J.C. Activities related to the present article: money paid to institution from an RSNA grant. Activities not related to the present article: disclosed no relevant relationships. Other relationships: disclosed no relevant relationships. M.C.M. Activities related to the present article: disclosed no relevant relationships. Activities not related to the present article: RSNA and ACR board membership, expenses reimbursed from RSNA and ACR; money paid to institution from an ACR Innovation grant; royalties from Elsevier for breast imaging textbooks. Other relationships: disclosed no relevant relationships., (2020 by the Radiological Society of North America, Inc.)

This meta-analysis was conducted to define clinical efficacy and side effects (bradycardia and post-operative nausea and vomiting [PONV]) in trials comparing sugammadex with neostigmine or placebo for reversal of rocuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade in adult patients. A search of PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library electronic databases identified 111 clinical trials for potential inclusion. We performed a meta-analysis of 32 studies that quantitatively compared the efficacy and side effects of sugammadex with either neostigmine or placebo in adult patients requiring general anesthesia. Analyzed outcomes were reversal time, anesthesia time, duration of stay in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), and the occurrence of bradycardia or PONV. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for binary data. Mean differences and 95% CI were calculated for continuous outcome data. Meta-analyses were performed using random and fixed-effects models. Heterogeneity across studies was assessed using Cochran's Q test and the I 2 statistic. Quantification of these outcomes can better inform anesthetists and health systems of the relative costs and benefits of the two reversal agents. This information also forms a basis for a comparative cost analysis in a co-submitted manuscript [1]., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships which have, or could be perceived to have, influenced the work reported in this article., (© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Women that previously had preterm labor are at an increased risk for heart disease. Because spontaneous preterm birth is an adverse pregnancy outcome that affects millions of children worldwide, our objective was to review and analyze studies that have examined associations between maternal total cholesterol (TC), LDL-C, and HDL-C concentrations during pregnancy and the risk of preterm birth to potentially define biomarkers or targets for treatment. Method: A search was performed and 22 articles were found that examined the association of maternal plasma cholesterol concentrations and preterm birth. A meta-analysis was performed on 10 of the articles, those that used maternal lipid concentrations as the outcome and presented results as means plus variables, and a qualitative review was performed on all 22 articles. Results: The meta-analysis showed no relationship between maternal TC, LDL-C, or HDL-C and increased risk of preterm birth, although, a near significant relationship between low maternal HDL-C concentration and preterm birth ( p  = .055). Importantly, associations increased when cholesterol concentrations were combined with inflammatory markers or metabolic syndrome factors. Conclusions: The relationship between maternal cholesterol levels and preterm birth is heterogeneous. Associations are strengthened when maternal cholesterol concentrations are combined with other factors that may be related to more recently defined lipoprotein functions.

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical and neurochemical effects of 12-week fish oil, a source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids ( n -3 PUFAs), in depressed adolescents with a family history of bipolar I disorder. Methods: Adolescents with a current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, Text Revision diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder or Depressive Disorder not otherwise specified, a Childhood Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R) Version raw score of ≥40, and at least one biological parent with bipolar I disorder were randomized to double-blind treatment with fish oil (2100 mg/day) or placebo for 12 weeks. The primary outcome measure was change in CDRS-R total score, and secondary outcomes measures were change in manic symptoms (Young Mania Rating Scale), global symptom and functioning measures (Clinical Global Impression-Severity [CGI-S] /CGI Improvement [CGI-I], Children's Global Assessment Scale, and Child Behavior Checklist), safety and laboratory measures, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and bilateral ventrolateral prefrontal cortex neurometabolite concentrations using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 4 T. Results: Fifty-six patients were randomized, and 42 completed the 12-week trial (placebo: n  = 21; fish oil, n  = 21). Subjects randomized to fish oil, but not placebo, exhibited a significant baseline to endpoint increase in erythrocyte n -3 PUFAs. Reductions in CDRS-R scores did not differ between treatment groups ( p  = 0.15), and similar remission ( p  = 0.58) and response ( p  = 0.77) rates were observed. Fish oil produced a significantly greater decrease in CGI-S ( p  = 0.0042) and CGI-I ( p  = 0.036) scores compared with placebo. Baseline to endpoint change in ACC creatine ( p  = 0.004) and ACC choline (Cho) ( p  = 0.024) differed significantly between groups. Baseline ACC Cho levels were inversely correlated with baseline and baseline to endpoint change in CDRS-R scores, and baseline to endpoint change in ACC Cho correlated with baseline-endpoint change in CDRS-R scores and n -3 PUFA. There were no group differences in safety and tolerability ratings or laboratory measures. Conclusions: Fish oil monotherapy was not superior to placebo for reducing depressive symptoms in high-risk youth as assessed by the CDRS-R, but was safe and well tolerated and superior to placebo on clinician ratings of global symptom improvement. Associations among ACC Cho levels, depression symptom severity, and n -3 PUFA warrant additional investigation.

Objectives: To examine metabolic monitoring rates in commercially insured children and adolescents treated with a second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) during calendar years (CYs) 2016 and 2017. Methods: In this retrospective study, data were collected from a large national commercial health plan for the period covering January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2017. Commercially insured children and adolescents, aged 8-19 years with ≥2 SGA prescription claims during the CY, were identified for the CY2016 and CY2017 cohorts. The primary outcome of interest was the percentage of subjects with any glucose or lipid metabolism parameter monitoring. Other calculated metabolic testing rates included glucose, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), other cholesterol (including triglycerides), and combined glucose and lipid metabolism testing (≥1 test for blood glucose or HbA1c and ≥1 test for LDL-C or other cholesterol). Results: In CY2016 and CY2017, 1502 and 1239 subjects, respectively, were identified for this study. The most common psychiatric diagnoses in CY2016 and CY2017 were major depressive disorder (57.1%, 56.5%, respectively), anxiety disorders (42.9%, 47.5%), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (41.6%, 45.8%), and bipolar disorder (24.1%, 25.9%). The rate of any metabolic testing was 53.5% in CY2016 and 51.3% in CY2017. Glucose testing (50.3%, 46.9%, respectively) was most common in both CYs, followed by LDL-C testing (31.2%, 28.5%). Rates of combined glucose and lipid metabolism testing were 30.7% in CY2016 and 26.9% in CY2017. Conclusions: Given the known potential for adverse cardiometabolic effects, rates of metabolic monitoring associated with SGA use in children and adolescents urgently need to be improved. There is a critical need for understanding barriers to routine monitoring, particularly of lipids, and developing interventions to enhance metabolic monitoring.

Objectives: Bipolar disorder is marked by progressive symptomatic changes, which have been linked with episode-related structural findings-particularly in the prefrontal cortex. However, few studies have examined neurofunctional and neurochemical effects of disease burden. In this study, we compared first- and multi-episode bipolar individuals. We hypothesized that the latter would demonstrate evidence of neurophysiological differences consistent with a model of progressive functional degradation of these networks., Methods: First- and multi-episode manic bipolar subjects participated in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) including a continuous performance task with emotional distractors, and in single-voxel ( 1 H) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). A priori fMRI regions-of-interest (ROI) included structures comprising prefrontal-striatal-amygdala networks; ( 1 H)MRS voxels were placed within bilateral ventrolateral prefrontal (VLPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Both ROI and voxel-based brain activation in response to emotional stimuli, and neurochemical concentrations derived from ( 1 H)MRS were compared across bipolar groups., Results: Multi-episode bipolar subjects showed relatively lower regional activation across prefrontal-striatal-amygdala networks, including bilateral VLPFC, orbitofrontal cortex, ACC, putamen, caudate, and amygdala. Exploratory whole-brain, voxel-based analysis suggested additional areas of lower activation extending into Brodmann area 22, posterior parietal regions, and right thalamus. Glutamate and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) concentrations were also relatively lower in the ACC of multi-episode subjects., Conclusions: Disease burden, exemplified by multiple affective episodes is associated with evidence of widespread decrements in affective network activity. Lower ACC NAA concentration is similarly consistent with a model of progressive functional deficits. These findings support the functional significance of previously observed progressive structural changes throughout these regions., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background and Objectives: Kidney biopsy is an essential tool for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with kidney disease; however, because of its invasive nature, bleeding complications may arise., Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We performed a meta-analysis of prospective or retrospective observational studies and randomized, controlled trials in pediatric patients undergoing native or transplant kidney biopsy in an inpatient or outpatient setting in MEDLINE-indexed studies from January 1998 to November 1, 2017 to determine the proportion of patients who develop hematoma, need blood transfusion, or need an additional intervention due to a complication after kidney biopsy., Results: Twenty-three studies of 5504 biopsies met inclusion criteria. The proportion of patients developing hematoma after biopsy was between 11% (95% confidence interval, 7% to 17%) and 18% (95% confidence interval, 9% to 35%) using two analyses that included different time periods. The proportion needing blood transfusion was 0.9% (95% confidence interval, 0.5% to 1.4%). The proportion needing an additional intervention due to postbiopsy complication was 0.7% (95% confidence interval, 0.4% to 1.1%). Secondary analysis was not possible due to lack of data in the original manuscripts on laboratory values, needle gauges, number of needle passes, age of patient, or performer (attending versus trainee). Analysis with metaregression found that use of real-time ultrasound during biopsy did not modify the risk for hematoma, requirement of a blood products transfusion, or requirement of an additional procedure after biopsy. Analysis with metaregression comparing native biopsies with transplant biopsies did not reveal that biopsy type (native kidney biopsy versus transplant kidney biopsy) was associated with the need for a blood transfusion or requirement of an additional intervention after biopsy., Conclusions: The development of perinephric hematoma after kidney biopsy is not an infrequent finding. The proportion of patients requiring blood transfusion or needing an additional intervention as a result of kidney biopsy in pediatric patients is significantly smaller., (Copyright © 2019 by the American Society of Nephrology.)

Objectives: The aims of the present study were to characterize cardiometabolic risk factors in a cohort of bipolar disorder patients with limited exposure to psychotropic medications, and to evaluate their associations with mood symptoms and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) blood levels., Methods: Cardiometabolic risk assessments were compared in individuals with bipolar I disorder experiencing a first manic or mixed episode or an early depressive episode (n=117) and healthy subjects (n=56). Patients were medication free at assessment and had no or limited exposure to mood-stabilizer or antipsychotic medications prior to the current admission. Associations among cardiometabolic parameters and Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale (CGI-S), manic (Young Mania Rating Scale [YMRS]), and depressive (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale [HDRS]) symptom ratings were evaluated within the bipolar group., Results: Following adjustment for demographic variables (i.e., age, gender, and parental education), significantly higher fasting triglyceride levels were observed in the bipolar group compared to the healthy group (121.7 mg/dL vs 87.0 mg/dL; P<.01). There were no clear trends for other metabolic indicators, including blood pressure, body mass index, and fasting glucose. Nineteen percent of the bipolar group and 6% of the healthy group met the criteria for metabolic syndrome (P=.23). The omega-3 index was lower in the bipolar group (3.4% vs 3.9%; P<.01). Within the bipolar group, no associations were found between the cardiometabolic parameters and CGI-S, YMRS, and HDRS symptom ratings., Conclusions: Recent-onset medication-free bipolar disorder is associated with higher triglyceride levels. These findings are suggestive of early metabolic dysregulation prior to long-term psychotropic medication exposure. Lower omega-3 PUFA levels in individuals with bipolar I disorder represent a potential therapeutic target for additional investigation., (© 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The neurophysiological substrates of cognition and emotion, as seen with fMRI, are generally explained using modular structures. The present study was designed to probe the modular structure of cognitive-emotional processing in bipolar and healthy individuals using factor analysis and compare the results with current conceptions of the neurophysiology of bipolar disorder., Methods: Exploratory factor analysis was used to assess patterns of covariation among brain regions-of-interest activated during the Continuous Performance Task with Emotional and Neutral Distractors in healthy and bipolar individuals without a priori constraints on the number or composition of latent factors., Results: Results indicated a common cognitive-emotional network consisting of prefrontal, medial temporal, limbic, parietal, anterior cingulate and posterior cingulate modules. However, reduced brain activation to emotional stimuli in the frontal, medial temporal and limbic modules was apparent in the bipolar relative to the healthy group, potentially accounting for emotional dysregulation in bipolar disorder., Limitations: This study is limited by a relatively small sample size recruited at a single site. The results have yet to be validated on a larger independent sample., Conclusions: Although the modular structure of cognitive-emotional processing is similar in bipolar and healthy individuals, activation in response to emotional/neutral cues varies. These findings are not only consistent with recent conceptions of mood regulation in bipolar disorder, but also suggest that regional activation can be considered within tighter modular structures without compromising data interpretation. This demonstration may serve as a template for data reduction in future region-of-interest analyses to increase statistical power., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To determine the trajectory and magnitude of antidepressant response as well as the effect of antidepressant class and dose on symptomatic improvement in pediatric anxiety disorders., Method: Weekly symptom severity data were extracted from randomized, parallel group, placebo-controlled trials of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and selective serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) in pediatric anxiety disorders. Treatment response was modeled for the standardized change in continuous measures of anxiety using Bayesian updating. Posterior distributions for each study served as informative conjugate prior to distributions update subsequent study posteriors. Change in symptom severity was evaluated as a function of time, class and, for SSRIs, standardized dose., Results: Data from 9 trials (SSRIs: n = 5; SNRIs, n = 4) evaluating 7 medications in 1,673 youth were included. In the logarithmic model of treatment response, statistically, but not clinically, significant treatment effects emerged within 2 weeks of beginning treatment (standardized medication-placebo difference = -0.054, credible interval [CI] = -0.076 to -0.032, p = .005, approximate Cohen's d ≤ 0.2) and by week 6, clinically significant differences emerged (standardized medication-placebo difference = -0.120, CI = -0.142 to -0.097, p = .001, approximate Cohen's d = 0.44). Compared to SNRIs, SSRIs resulted in significantly greater improvement by the second week of treatment (p = .0268), and this advantage remained statistically significant through week 12 (all p values <.03). Improvement occurred earlier with high-dose SSRI treatment (week 2, p = .002) compared to low-dose treatment (week 10, p = .025), but SSRI dose did not have an impact on overall response trajectory (p > .18 for weeks 1-12)., Conclusions: In pediatric patients with generalized, separation, and/or social anxiety disorders, antidepressant-related improvement occurred early in the course of treatment, and SSRIs were associated with more rapid and greater improvement compared to SNRIs., (Copyright © 2018 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Studies in humans have shown a direct association between maternal plasma cholesterol concentrations and infant birthweight. Similarly, previous studies in our laboratory have shown that chow-fed mice lacking apolipoprotein (apo) A-I, the major protein in HDL, have low HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations and smaller fetuses in midgestation. In the current study, we measured fetal weights in mice with varying levels of apoA-I gene dose (knockout, wild-type, and transgenic) and examined metabolic pathways known to affect fetal growth. As expected, we found the differences in apoA-I expression led to changes in HDL particle size and protein cargo as well as plasma cholesterol concentrations. Fetal masses correlated directly with maternal plasma cholesterol and apoA-I concentrations, but placental masses and histology did not differ between groups of mice. There was no significant difference in glucose or amino acid transport to the fetus or in expression levels of the glucose (glucose transporter 1 and 2) or amino acid (sodium-coupled neutral amino acid transporter 1 and 2) transporters in whole placentas, although there was a trend for greater uptake of both nutrients in the whole fetal unit (fetus + placenta) of mice with greater apoA-I levels; significant differences in transport rates occurred when mice without apoA-I (knockout) vs. mice with apoA-I (wild-type and transgenic) were compared. Glucose tolerance tests were improved in the mice with the highest level of apoA-I, suggesting increased insulin-induced uptake of glucose by tissues of apoA-I transgenic mice. Thus, maternal HDL is associated with fetal growth, an effect that is likely mediated by plasma cholesterol or other HDL-cargo, including apolipoproteins or complement system proteins. A direct role of enhanced glucose and/or amino acid transport cannot be excluded.-Rebholz, S. L., Melchior, J. T., Davidson, W. S., Jones, H. N., Welge, J. A., Prentice, A. M., Moore, S. E., Woollett, L. A. Studies in genetically modified mice implicate maternal HDL as a mediator of fetal growth.

A beneficial impact of the Human Pegivirus (HPgV)-formerly called GB virus C (GBV-C)-on HIV disease progression has been reported previously. One possible mechanism by which HPgV inhibits HIV replication is an alteration of the cytokine/chemokine milieu. Their expression has not been specifically evaluated in women despite their influence on disease progression and the possibility of gender-based differences in expression. Moreover, the impact of HPgV genotype on cytokine/chemokine expression is unknown. Sera levels of IL-2, IL-4, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, IFNγ, TNFα, IP-10, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, and TGF-β 1 were quantified in 150 HIV-positive women based on HPgV RNA status. Cytokines/chemokines with detection rates of at least 50% included IL-2, IL-4, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IFNγ, TNFα, IP-10, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, and TGF-β 1 . Absolute values were significantly higher for HPgV positive compared to HPgV negative women for IL-7, IL-13, IL-12p70, and IFNγ. Absolute values were significantly lower for HPgV positive women for IL-4, IL-8, TGF-β 1 , and IP-10. IFNγ values were higher for HPgV genotype 2 than for genotype 1 (P = 0.036). Further study of cytokine/chemokine regulation by HPgV may ultimately lead to the development of novel therapeutic agents to treat HIV infection and/or the design of vaccine strategies that mimic the "protective" effects of HPgV replication., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: Individualized treatment for bipolar disorder based on neuroimaging treatment targets remains elusive. To address this shortcoming, we developed a linguistic machine learning system based on a cascading genetic fuzzy tree (GFT) design called the LITHium Intelligent Agent (LITHIA). Using multiple objectively defined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H-MRS) inputs, we tested whether LITHIA could accurately predict the lithium response in participants with first-episode bipolar mania., Methods: We identified 20 subjects with first-episode bipolar mania who received an adequate trial of lithium over 8 weeks and both fMRI and 1 H-MRS scans at baseline pre-treatment. We trained LITHIA using 18 1 H-MRS and 90 fMRI inputs over four training runs to classify treatment response and predict symptom reductions. Each training run contained a randomly selected 80% of the total sample and was followed by a 20% validation run. Over a different randomly selected distribution of the sample, we then compared LITHIA to eight common classification methods., Results: LITHIA demonstrated nearly perfect classification accuracy and was able to predict post-treatment symptom reductions at 8 weeks with at least 88% accuracy in training and 80% accuracy in validation. Moreover, LITHIA exceeded the predictive capacity of the eight comparator methods and showed little tendency towards overfitting., Conclusions: The results provided proof-of-concept that a novel GFT is capable of providing control to a multidimensional bioinformatics problem-namely, prediction of the lithium response-in a pilot data set. Future work on this, and similar machine learning systems, could help assign psychiatric treatments more efficiently, thereby optimizing outcomes and limiting unnecessary treatment., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Studying youth at high risk of developing bipolar disorder may clarify neurobiological factors associated with vulnerability to this illness. We present here a baseline characterization of brain structure in youth at-risk for bipolar disorder., Methods: Magnetic resonance images were obtained from 115 child and adolescent offspring of bipolar disorder type I subjects and 57 healthy child and adolescent offspring of healthy parents (healthy control offspring). Offspring of parents with bipolar disorder were divided into healthy bipolar offspring (n=47) or symptomatic bipolar offspring (n=68), according to presence or absence of childhood-onset psychopathology. All bipolar offspring were free of major mood and psychotic disorders. Gray (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes were compared between groups using voxel-based morphometry., Results: No differences in GM volumes were found across groups. Healthy bipolar offspring presented with decreased WM volumes in areas of the right frontal, temporal and parietal lobes, and in the left temporal and parietal lobes compared to healthy control offspring. Symptomatic bipolar offspring did not present with any differences in WM volumes compared to either healthy bipolar offspring or healthy control offspring., Limitations: Cross-sectional design and heterogeneous sample of symptomatic bipolar offspring., Conclusions: WM volume decreases in areas of the frontal, occipital, and parietal lobes are present in bipolar offspring prior to the development of any psychiatric symptoms, and may be a correlate of familial risk to bipolar disorder. In this large cohort, we have not found evidence for regional GM volume abnormalities as an endophenotype for bipolar disorder., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

World-wide, millions of women enter preterm labor or have small newborns. Effective biomarkers are needed to identify women at risk for these adverse outcomes. A time and cost effective way to examine any potentially new biomarkers in samples collected during prior studies or trials that had been assayed for other metabolites would be highly useful. Thus, the current study aimed to determine if samples that had been previously thawed and re-frozen could be re-assayed for novel biomarkers, those being lipoprotein composition (sizing, proteome, lipids) and combined cholesterol and cytokine concentrations. Fasting blood was collected from 51 young non-pregnant women and plasma was analyzed for lipoprotein composition and cytokine concentrations after multiple freeze/thaw cycles in the cold or at room temperature and after being stored for 18 months. Plasma LDL-C, HDL-C, total cholesterol, and triglyceride concentrations decreased <6-7% (cholesterols) or <20% (triglyceride) after 7 thaws in the cold, 3 thaws at room temperature, and after 18 months of storage. As these decreases were less than day-to-day reported variation of lipids, they do not appear to be physiologically significant. Cytokine (IL-6, TNF α, IL-8, IL-1β) and hsCRP concentrations decreased by 22%, 8%, 8%, 22%, and 35%, respectively; only IL-6, IL-1β and hsCRP concentrations showed significant decreases greater than day-to-day variations of 20%. For measured triglyceride and cytokine, but not cholesterol concentrations, decreases with freeze/thaw cycles were greater when concentrations were elevated. Multiple thaws also led to changes in lipoprotein sizing, specifically to a shift from medium- and large-sized HDL particles to small-sized HDL particles and from large LDL to IDL. No changes occurred for VLDL particle numbers. Though particle sizes changed, the HDL proteome did not change with multiple thaw cycles or after long term storage. Overall, the results demonstrate that it is possible to use previously obtained frozen samples for plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels and the lipoprotein proteome, and lipoprotein sizing and cytokine concentrations if one knows the history of the sample as changes should be relative to one another.

Background: The predictive characteristics of different screening surveys for the recognition of individuals at risk for airflow obstruction (AFO) have not been evaluated simultaneously in the same population., Purpose: To compare five AFO/COPD screening questionnaires., Methods: 383 individuals completed the Veterans Airflow Obstruction Screening Questionnaire, Personal Level Screener for COPD (VAFOSQ), the 11-Q COPD Screening Questionnaire (11-Q), the COPD Population Screener (COPD-PS) and the Lung Function Questionnaire (LFQ) and performed spirometry. AFO was defined as forced expiratory volume in one second divided by the forced vital capacity (FEV 1 /FVC) < 0.7, fixed ratio (FR) or FEV 1 /FVC < lower limit of normal (LLN). The predictive characteristics of the five questionnaires were calculated and non-parametric receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves estimated by logistic regression., Results: 376 participants completed at least two of the questionnaires and performed technically acceptable spirometry. AFO was present in 102 (27.1%) and 150 (39.9%) based on LLN and FR, respectively. The number of individuals positively selected by the VAFOSQ was 227, PLS 128, 11-Q 236, COPD-PS 217, and LFQ 328. The area under the ROC curves for the questionnaires was between 0.60 and 0.66 (LLN) and 0.58 and 0.66 (FR)., Conclusions: Although these screening surveys have acceptable and similar predictive ability for the identification of AFO, their published thresholds lead to substantially different classification rates. The choice of an appropriate threshold for the identification of individuals with possible AFO/COPD should consider the underlying prevalence of AFO/COPD in the target population and the relative costs of misclassifying affected and unaffected cases., Clinical Trial Registration: None., Primary Source of Funding: Veterans Health Administration., (Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Objective: To examine prefrontal and amygdala activation during emotional processing in youth with or at varying risk for developing mania to identify candidate central prodromal risk biomarkers., Method: Four groups of medication-free adolescents (10-20 years old) participated: adolescents with first-episode bipolar I disorder (BP-I; n = 32), adolescents with a parent with bipolar disorder and a depressive disorder (at-risk depressed [ARD]; n = 32), healthy adolescents with a parent with bipolar disorder (at-risk healthy [ARH]; n = 32), and healthy adolescents with no personal or family history of psychiatric illness (healthy comparison [HC]; n = 32). Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a continuous performance task with emotional and neutral distracters. Region-of-interest analyses were performed for the bilateral amygdala and for subregions of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex., Results: Overall, no group differences in bilateral amygdala and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area [BA] 45/47) activation during emotional or neutral stimuli were observed. The BP-I group exhibited lower right pregenual anterior cingulate cortex activation compared with the HC group, and activation in the left BA 44 was greater in the ARH and ARD groups compared with the HC group. BP-I and ARD groups exhibited blunted activation in the right BA 10 compared with the ARH group., Conclusion: During emotional processing, amygdala and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (BA 45/47) activation does not differ in youth with or at increasing risk for BP-I. However, blunted pregenual anterior cingulate cortex activation in first-episode mania could represent an illness biomarker, and greater prefrontal BA 10 and BA 44 activations in at-risk youth could represent a biomarker of risk or resilience warranting additional investigation in prospective longitudinal studies., (Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (LDX) in the treatment of binge eating disorder (BED)., Method: Fifty participants with BED received LDX (20-70 mg/day) (n = 25) or placebo (n = 25) for up to 12 weeks in a single-center, randomized, double-blind, and flexible-dose trial. The primary outcome measure was binge eating (BE) days/week., Results: In the primary longitudinal analysis, compared with placebo, LDX was not associated with a significantly greater rate of reduction in BE days/week, as well as BE episodes/week, and scores on the Clinical Global Impression-Severity or Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale modified for binge eating scales. It was, however, associated with significantly decreased weight, body mass index, and fasting triglyceride level. In the secondary last observation carried forward analyses, LDX was associated with statistically significant reductions in BE days/week, BE episodes/week, weight, and BMI, as well as a statistically significant greater level of categorical response and global improvement. The mean (standard deviation) LDX daily dose at endpoint evaluation was 59.6 (14.9) mg. One participant discontinued LDX for a serious adverse cardiovascular event, which resolved fully., Conclusion: Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate may have clinical utility for BED but further studies of its efficacy, tolerability, and safety in this population are needed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., (Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality within the Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA) and is frequently under-diagnosed. We developed the Veterans Airflow Screening Questionnaire (VAFOSQ) to improve the identification of Veterans with airflow obstruction (AFO), the most commonly used criterion for the diagnosis of COPD.We created an initial survey with 78 variables that have been associated with AFO. A total of 825 patients in 3 primary care clinics performed spirometry after bronchodilator administration and completed the initial survey. Best sets regression was used to build a model that predicted AFO optimally. A total of 195 of 825 (23.3%) patients had AFO and 7 items positively predicted AFO. When the questionnaire score was greater than 25, the VAFOSQ accurately identified AFO with an area under the receiver operating curve of 0.72. In a prospective validation cohort of 376 participants, the positive predictive value was 32% and negative predictive value 81%. The VAFOSQ is a reliable and valid instrument for the identification of veterans at risk for AFO who would benefit from further evaluation with spirometry and assessment for COPD. The VAFOSQ is straightforward to use and can be easily self-administered and self-scored enabling widespread application within the VHA., Competing Interests: The authors have no relevant interests to declare.

Aim: Mood disorders are associated with low levels of the long-chain omega-3 (LCn-3) fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). This study investigated LCn-3 fatty acid biostatus in youth with or at varying risk for developing mania to assess its utility as a prodromal risk biomarker., Method: Erythrocyte fatty acid composition was determined in healthy adolescents (n = 28, HC), asymptomatic adolescents with a biological parent with bipolar I disorder (n = 30; 'high risk', HR), adolescents with a biological parent with bipolar I disorder and major depressive disorder, or depressive disorder not otherwise specified (n = 36; 'ultra-high risk', UHR), and first-episode adolescent bipolar manic patients (n = 35, BP)., Results: Group differences were observed for DHA (P ≤ 0.0001) and EPA (P = 0.03). Compared with HC, erythrocyte EPA + DHA ('omega-3 index') was significantly lower in BP (-24%, P ≤ 0.0001) and UHR (-19%, P = 0.0006) groups, and there was a trend in the HR group (-11%, P = 0.06). Compared with HC (61%), a greater percentage of HR (77%, P = 0.02), UHR (80%, P = 0.005) and BP (97%, P = 0.001) subjects exhibited EPA + DHA levels of ≤4.0%. Among all subjects (n = 130), EPA + DHA was inversely correlated with manic (r = -0.29, P = 0.0008) and depressive (r = -0.28, P = 0.003) symptom severity. The AA/EPA + DHA ratio was significantly greater in BP (+22%, P = 0.0002) and UHR (+16%, P = 0.001) groups., Conclusions: Low EPA + DHA levels coincide with the initial onset of mania, and increasing risk for developing bipolar disorder is associated with graded erythrocyte EPA + DHA deficits. Low erythrocyte EPA + DHA biostatus may represent a promising prodromal risk biomarker warranting additional evaluation in future prospective studies., (© 2015 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)