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PubMed2001

Immunological differences between patients with major depression and somatization syndrome.

There is some evidence that major depression is accompanied by activation of the inflammatory response system (IRS). There is also evidence that proinflammatory cytokines and induction of IRS activation are associated with sickness behavior in experimental animals. However, no research has examined the IRS in somatization disorder. The aim of this study was to examine possible immunological differences between major depression, somatization and healthy controls. We measured the following IRS variables in patients with major depression (n=36), somatization syndrome (SSI-8; n=37), major depression and somatization (n=40) and healthy controls (n=37): interleukin-6 (IL-6); interleukin-1-receptor-antagonist (IL-1RA); plasma soluble interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R); soluble suppressor/cytotoxic antigen (CD8); leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF-R); and Clara cell protein (CC16), an endogenous anticytokine. Serum CD8 concentrations were significantly increased in patients with major depression compared with concentrations in patients with somatization syndrome, whereas concentrations in normal controls were intermediate between those of the two groups of patients. Serum CC16 was significantly lower in major depression than in healthy controls. The highest CC16 scores were found in patients with somatization syndrome. Somatizing patients have significantly lower serum IL-6 values than normal controls and depressed patients. The present results indicate (1) an activation of the IRS in depression with signs of T-cell activation (increased CD8), monocytic activation (IL-1RA) and a lowered anti-inflammatory capacity of the serum (lower CC16) and (2) an immune alteration in somatizing syndrome, such as monocytic activation (increased IL-1RA) and indicators of lowered T-lymphocytic activity (lowered CD8 and IL-6). These results suggest different immune alterations in somatization syndrome and depression.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

The presentation of irritable bowel syndrome in the context of somatization disorder.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Somatization disorder, a female predominant disorder, has been found with higher than expected prevalence in previous studies of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and might be responsible for some of the comorbidity and excessive health care resource use associated with IBS. The study's aim was to determine within a female IBS population the degree of segregation of psychiatric illness, functional disorders, and health care utilization with somatization disorder. METHODS: In a prospective, 6-month follow-up study, psychiatric disorders were assessed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, gastrointestinal and other symptoms with self-report questionnaires, and medically unexplained complaints by thorough chart review. The setting was a university gastroenterology clinic. The participants were a convenience sample of female clinic attendees with IBS (N = 56). RESULTS: Somatization disorder was diagnosed in 25% of patients and highly probable in another 5%. Somatization disorder was associated with significantly greater numbers of gastrointestinal and other symptoms, psychiatric disorders, physicians consulted, telephone calls to physicians, urgent care visits, medication changes, and missed work days and with benzodiazepine use. On follow-up, somatization disorder was associated with psychiatric and IBS symptoms, medication changes, and treatment dissatisfaction. Both somatization disorder and other psychiatric illnesses were associated with other functional gastrointestinal disorders; only somatization disorder remained predictive in a regression model that controlled for the presence of other psychiatric illness. CONCLUSIONS: Among female IBS patients attending a university gastroenterology clinic, many aspects of comorbidity and health care behaviors previously associated with IBS segregated with the diagnosis of somatization disorder. Recognition and appreciation of somatization disorder in IBS have important ramifications for the conduct of research and clinical practice.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Somatization disorder in a US southern community: use of a new procedure for analysis of medical classification.

The authors examine somatization disorder in a community population, using grade of membership analysis, a new multivariate analytical technique for the analysis of medical classification. The technique is used to examine whether somatic symptoms will cluster into a clinical syndrome resembling somatization disorder, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), if no a priori assumptions are made about the interrelationship of somatic symptoms or their clustering into clinical syndromes. Grade of membership analysis is applied to all respondents in the US National Institute of Mental Health Epidemiological Catchment Area Project of the Piedmont region of North Carolina reporting three or more somatic symptoms from the somatization disorder section of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. The analysis indicates that seven 'pure' types, roughly analogous to clusters in cluster analysis, best describe the interrelationship of the symptoms included in the analysis. One 'pure' type in the analysis is nearly identical to DSM-III somatization disorder and is associated with demographic characteristics consistently found among patients with DSM-III somatization disorder. The present results demonstrate that symptoms associated with this disorder do cluster in a highly predictable fashion and represent a strong validation of the natural occurrence of an entity resembling somatization disorder.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Stress-induced somatic embryogenesis in vegetative tissues of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Somatic embryogenesis is an obvious experimental evidence of totipotency, and is used as a model system for studying the mechanisms of de-differentiation and re-differentiation of plant cells. Although Arabidopsis is widely used as a model plant for genetic and molecular biological studies, there is no available tissue culture system for inducing somatic embryogenesis from somatic cells in this plant. We established a new tissue culture system using stress treatment to induce somatic embryogenesis in Arabidopsis. In this system, stress treatment induced formation of somatic embryos from shoot-apical-tip and floral-bud explants. The somatic embryos grew into young plantlets with normal morphology, including cotyledons, hypocotyls, and roots, and some embryo-specific genes (ABI3 and FUS3) were expressed in these embryos. Several stresses (osmotic, heavy metal ion, and dehydration stress) induced somatic embryogenesis, but the optimum stress treatment differed between different stressors. When we used mannitol to cause osmotic stress, the optimal conditions for somatic embryogenesis were 6-9 h of culture on solid B5 medium containing 0.7 m mannitol, after which the explants were transferred to B5 medium containing 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D, 4.5 microm), but no mannitol. Using this tissue culture system, we induced somatic embryogenesis in three major ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana-Ws, Col, and Ler.

Arabidopsis↗
PubMed1999

An international study of the relation between somatic symptoms and depression.

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: Patients with depression, particularly those seen by primary care physicians, may report somatic symptoms, such as headache, constipation, weakness, or back pain. Some previous studies have suggested that patients in non-Western countries are more likely to report somatic symptoms than are patients in Western countries. We used data from the World Health Organization's study of psychological problems in general health care to examine the relation between somatic symptoms and depression. The study, conducted in 1991 and 1992, screened 25,916 patients at 15 primary care centers in 14 countries on 5 continents. Of the patients in the original sample, 5447 underwent a structured assessment of depressive and somatoform disorders. RESULTS: A total of 1146 patients (weighted prevalence, 10.1 percent) met the criteria for major depression. The range of patients with depression who reported only somatic symptoms was 45 to 95 percent (overall prevalence, 69 percent; P=0.002 for the comparison among centers). A somatic presentation was more common at centers where patients lacked an ongoing relationship with a primary care physician than at centers where most patients had a personal physician (odds ratio, 1.8; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.2 to 2.7). Half the depressed patients reported multiple unexplained somatic symptoms, and 11 percent denied psychological symptoms of depression on direct questioning. Neither of these proportions varied significantly among the centers. Although the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms varied markedly among the centers, the frequencies of psychological and physical symptoms were similar. CONCLUSIONS: Somatic symptoms of depression are common in many countries, but their frequency varies depending on how somatization is defined. There is substantial variation in how frequently patients with depression present with strictly somatic symptoms. In part, this variation may reflect characteristics of physicians and health care systems, as well as cultural differences among patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Somatic hybridization in the Gramineae: Saccharum officinarum L. (sugarcane) and Pennisetum americanum (L.) K. Schum. (pearl millet).

Somatic hybrid cell lines with embryogenic capacity were obtained by fusion of protoplasts isolated from an embryogenic cell line of sugarcane with inactivated protoplasts of an S-(2-aminoethyl)-L-cysteine (Aet-Cys)-resistant cell line of pearl millet. Initial selection for putative hybrids was performed by plating protoplast-derived microcolonies onto medium containing 300 mug of Aet-Cys per ml. Calli growing in the presence of Aet-Cys were screened with respect to their electrophoretic pattern of phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-phospho-D-gluconate; EC 1.1.1.44), a dimeric enzyme. The somatic hybrid calli showed both parental homodimer bands plus an intermediate heterodimer band. Somatic hybrid lines were characterized further by electrophoretic patterns of shikimate dehydrogenase (shikimate; EC 1.1.1.25) and arylesterase (aryl-ester hydrolase; EC 3.1.1.2). All cell lines expressed the nuclear genomes of both parents. Use of a maize ribosomal DNA probe allowed the identification of diagnostic ribosomal DNA fragments in Xba I digests of total DNA in both parents and the somatic hybrids. The somatic hybrid lines carried both sugarcane and pearl millet ribosomal DNA fragments. The somatic hybrid calli formed somatic embryos. The banding pattern of phosphogluconate dehydrogenase from the somatic embryos was similar to that of the somatic hybrid calli.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Somatization in cancer.

Somatic symptoms can occur in disease-free cancer patients. The causes of such symptoms in cancer can be many and varied. These could be due to anxiety, depression, somatization or a manifestation of illness behaviour. Somatic symptoms can also arise out of treatments for the cancer like radiation treatment or chemotherapy. Cancer related somatic symptoms have cognitive, psychological, and physiological causes, each of which is amenable to treatment. The occurrence of somatoform disorders in cancer patients is likely to complicate the treatment and outcome of the cancer. Common somatic symptoms in cancer have been found to be pain, fatigue, anorexia, tiredness or exhaustion, weakness, reduced energy, lethargy, and tremors. Breathlessness, muscle pain, dizziness, and palpitation are common symptoms of anxiety and panic attack which have also been noted in cancer patients. Somatic concern and preoccupation are also common. These symptoms create difficulty in diagnosing depression and anxiety in cancer patients, and leads to the need for modification of the standard diagnostic criteria. Somatic symptoms in cancer respond to counselling and psychopharmacotherapy. More research are needed on this area to understand the process of somatization in a somatic disease.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed2006

Injection of somatic cell cytoplasm into oocytes before intracytoplasmic sperm injection impairs full-term development and increases placental weight in mice.

This study investigated the effects on fertilized embryo development of somatic cytoplasm after its injection into intact mouse oocytes. Mature oocytes collected from female B6D2F1 mice were injected with cumulus cell cytoplasm of different volumes and from different mouse strains (B6D2F1, ICR, and C57BL/6), or with embryonic cytoplasm. After culture for 1 h, B6D2F1 sperm were injected into those oocytes by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The oocytes were examined for pre- and postimplantation developmental competence. Increases in the volume of the somatic cytoplasm from onefold to fourfold resulted in an impairment of blastocyst development and full-term development (28% and 7%, respectively, vs. 96% and 63%, respectively, in the control group; P < 0.01). An increase in the volume of somatic cytoplasm reduced the expression of POU5F1 (more commonly known as OCT4) in expanded blastocysts. The frequency of embryos that developed to the blastocyst stage did not differ when B6D2F1 or ICR somatic cytoplasm was injected, but injection of C57BL/6 somatic cytoplasm induced a two-cell block in embryo development. Injection of the cytoplasm from fertilized embryos did not reduce the frequency of embryos attaining full-term development. Interestingly, somatic cytoplasm significantly increased the placental weight of ICSI embryos, even the injection of onefold cytoplasm (0.20 +/- 0.02 [n = 32] vs. 0.12 +/- 0.02 in the control group [n = 87]; P < 0.01). These findings indicate that the injection of somatic cytoplasm into oocytes before ICSI causes a decrease in preimplantation development, clearly impairs full-term development, and causes placental overgrowth in fertilized embryos. To our knowledge, placental overgrowth phenotypes are only caused by interspecies hybridization and cloning, and in genetically modified mice. Here, we report for the first time that somatic cytoplasm causes abnormal placentas in fertilized embryos. This study suggests that somatic cell cytoplasmic material is one cause of the low rate of full-term development in cloned mammals.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Developmental predictors of somatic symptoms in adolescents of parents with HIV: a 12-month follow-up.

Adolescents of parents with HIV provide a test for proposed risk factors for somatic symptoms. This study prospectively examined family and developmental predictors of somatic symptoms in a high-risk community sample. A longitudinal latent variable model predicted adolescent somatization scores from the Brief Symptom Inventory 12 months after baseline assessment of 211 parent-adolescent pairs. In this cohort, somatic symptoms during adolescence persisted over time (p <.001) and were predicted by female gender (p <.05). In addition, (1). parental distress over pain predicted adolescent somatic symptoms at baseline and follow-up (p <.001), (2). adolescents who experienced their parents as highly rejecting reported more somatic symptoms at follow-up (p <.001), and (3). school problems correlated with somatic symptoms (p <.001), as well as parental rejection (p <.001), at baseline. These findings underscore potential relationships among parental illness, parent-child relationships, and somatic distress. Adolescents with school problems are particularly vulnerable, at least in the short run. These data support a family-based approach to treatment programs for adolescents with increased levels of somatic distress.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Somatic symptoms of distress: an international primary care study.

The objective of this study was to examine cross-national differences in somatic symptoms associated with psychological distress. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) collaborative study of psychological problems in general health care (5438 patients at 15 sites) were used to examine somatic symptoms associated with psychological distress. At each site, a stratified random sample of consecutive primary care patients completed the 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). At all sites, the number of current CIDI somatic symptoms (whether medically explained or not) was strongly associated with current psychological distress (measured by selected GHQ-28 items). Pearson correlation of somatic symptom count with psychological distress score was .42 for all sites and ranged from .20 to .58 (p < .0001 at all sites). Across all sites, anxiety and depressive symptoms showed roughly the same association with somatic symptom counts, and specific somatic symptoms or symptom clusters did not show differential association with anxiety or depression. Although somatic symptoms did cluster into meaningful groups (gastrointestinal, neurological/conversion, autonomic, and musculoskeletal), these symptom groups did not show differential association with psychological distress. Examination of individual somatic symptoms and symptom clusters across sites did not reveal clear patterns of association according to geography or level of economic development. These data show a strong association between somatic symptoms and psychological distress, which did not vary across disparate cultures and levels of economic development. Cultural factors, however, may influence the meaning attached to symptoms or the likelihood of presentation for health care.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The PHQ-15: validity of a new measure for evaluating the severity of somatic symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Somatization is prevalent in primary care and is associated with substantial functional impairment and healthcare utilization. However, instruments for identifying and monitoring somatic symptoms are few in number and not widely used. Therefore, we examined the validity of a brief measure of the severity of somatic symptoms. METHODS: The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) is a self-administered version of the PRIME-MD diagnostic instrument for common mental disorders. The PHQ-15 comprises 15 somatic symptoms from the PHQ, each symptom scored from 0 ("not bothered at all") to 2 ("bothered a lot"). The PHQ-15 was administered to 6000 patients in eight general internal medicine and family practice clinics and seven obstetrics-gynecology clinics. Outcomes included functional status as assessed by the 20-item Short-Form General Health Survey (SF-20), self-reported sick days and clinic visits, and symptom-related difficulty. RESULTS: As PHQ-15 somatic symptom severity increased, there was a substantial stepwise decrement in functional status on all six SF-20 subscales. Also, symptom-related difficulty, sick days, and healthcare utilization increased. PHQ-15 scores of 5, 10, 15, represented cutoff points for low, medium, and high somatic symptom severity, respectively. Somatic and depressive symptom severity had differential effects on outcomes. Results were similar in the primary care and obstetrics-gynecology samples. CONCLUSIONS: The PHQ-15 is a brief, self-administered questionnaire that may be useful in screening for somatization and in monitoring somatic symptom severity in clinical practice and research.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The association between anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms in a large population: the HUNT-II study.

OBJECTIVE: Somatic symptoms are prevalent in the community, but at least one third of the symptoms lack organic explanation. Patients with such symptoms have a tendency to overuse the health care system with frequent consultations and have a high degree of disability and sickness compensation. Studies from clinical samples have shown that anxiety and depression are prevalent in such functional conditions. The aim of this study is to examine the connection between anxiety, depression, and functional somatic symptoms in a large community sample. METHOD: The HUNT-II study invited all inhabitants aged 20 years and above in Nord-Trondelag County of Norway to have their health examined and sent a questionnaire asking about physical symptoms, demographic factors, lifestyle, and somatic diseases. Anxiety and depression were recorded by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Of those invited, 62,651 participants (71.3%) filled in the questionnaire. A total of 10,492 people were excluded due to organic diseases, and 50,377 were taken into the analyses. RESULTS: Women reported more somatic symptoms than men (mean number of symptoms women/men: 3.8/2.9). There was a strong association between anxiety, depression, and functional somatic symptoms. The association was equally strong for anxiety and depression, and a somewhat stronger association was observed for comorbid anxiety and depression. The association of anxiety, depression, and functional somatic symptoms was equally strong in men and women (mean number of somatic symptoms men/women in anxiety: 4.5/5.9, in depression: 4.6/5.9, in comorbid anxiety and depression: 6.1/7.6, and in no anxiety or depression: 2.6/3.6) and in all age groups. The association between number of somatic symptoms and the total score on Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was linear. CONCLUSION: There was a statistically significant relationship between anxiety, depression, and functional somatic symptoms, independent of age and gender.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mapping the road from childhood trauma to adult somatization: the role of attachment.

OBJECTIVE: This study tested whether insecure attachment mediates the link between childhood trauma and adult somatization. METHODS: A community sample of 101 couples completed self-report measures, including the Relationship Scales Questionnaire, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Somatic Symptom Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Conflict Tactics Scale. RESULTS: Childhood trauma was associated with higher levels of somatization and insecure attachment. Insecure attachment style was also associated with higher levels of somatization. Controlling for age, income, and recent intimate partner violence, analyses showed that fearful attachment fully mediated the link between childhood trauma and somatization for women. For men, there was no such mediation, but both childhood trauma and insecure attachment styles made independent contributions to predicting levels of somatization. CONCLUSIONS: Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that, for women, childhood trauma influences adult levels of somatization by fostering insecure adult attachment. For men, findings suggest that trauma and attachment are both important independent predictors of adult somatization. Study results support the idea that childhood trauma shapes patients' styles of relating to others in times of need, and these styles, in turn, influence the somatization process and how patients respond to providers. Screening for attachment style may provide information that could allow health care providers to tailor treatment more effectively.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Maturation of soybean somatic embryos and the transition to plantlet growth.

The maturation of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) somatic embryos was characterized. Maturation was assayed by evaluating the ability of somatic embryos to make the transition to a plantlet through a germination-like process. Somatic embryos were organized from cotyledons of immature soybean embryos. Maturation of somatic embryos occurred on a Murashige-Skoog basal medium supplemented with activated charcoal and 0.28 molar sucrose. After 8 weeks on this medium, somatic embryos exhibited vigorous, high frequency development to plantlets. The "germination" frequency (conversion) of somatic embryos, and plantlet recovery frequency varied concurrently with maturation period. Conversion and plant recovery required no exogenous growth regulators. Desiccation of immature somatic embryos under controlled humidity regimes resulted in increased frequency of conversion of immature somatic embryos. Morphological abnormalities appeared in the somatic embryos, but few were detrimental to conversion velocity. There was little effect of genotype on conversion velocity or frequency.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1998

Coupling of sympathetic and somatic motor outflows from the spinal cord in a perfused preparation of adult mouse in vitro.

1. The relationship between sympathetic and somatic motor outflows from thoraco-lumbar spinal cord was investigated in a novel arterially perfused trunk-hindquarters preparation of adult mouse. 2. Ongoing activity was present in both somatic motor (obturator, sciatic or femoral nerves) and sympathetic outflows (either renal nerve or abdominal sympathetic chain). Sympathetic activity was rhythmic with bursts frequencies of 0.6-2.2 Hz. No obvious rhythmic activity was found in the somatic motor outflow. There were periods during which sympathetic and somatic motor activity were correlated. 3. Addition of NMDA (20-80 microM) to the perfusate elicited repetitive burst discharges in the somatic motor outflow which were sometimes rhythmic. The frequency of these burst discharges/rhythmic activity varied between preparations but in all cases increased with increasing NMDA concentration. 4. NMDA induced burst discharges in the sympathetic outflow. This bursting activity was of the same frequency as the somatic motor outflow and the two were coupled as revealed by correlation analysis. Periods of coupling persisted for up to 3 min. 5. Administration of hexamethonium (300 microM), to block sympathetic ganglionic transmission, had no effect on the somatic motor activity but severely attenuated sympathetic nerve discharge. 6. The thoraco-sacral cord therefore has the neuronal machinery necessary for generating and coupling activity in somatic motor and sympathetic outflows. Our findings indicate a dynamic control over the degree of coupling. We discuss that the synchronization of these neural outflows reflects either coupling between two independent mechanisms or the presence of a common synaptic driver impinging on both somatic motor and sympathetic neurones.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Somatic complaints and the CES-D.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the Center for Epidemiology Surveys-Depression (CES-D) scale for inordinate false positives, due to measurement of non-depression-related somatic complaints. DESIGN: Cross-sectional correlation of analysis of random multi-cluster samples. SETTING: Thirteen counties considered representative of the community-dwelling elderly population of Alabama. PARTICIPANTS: One-thousand-sixty persons aged 55 and older. INTERVENTION: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Study evaluated the relationship of somatic symptomatology, as measured by the Multi-Level Assessment Instrument's Physical Health Domain Index (PHDI) composite score and its three component indices, with the CES-D and its four component scales, particularly the Somatic scale. RESULTS: The CES-D total score and the Somatic scale were not related to: age increases in the sample; PHDI composite score or the three index scores; or to subgroups of high and low PHDI composite scores. Among those screened as depressed, the PHDI and the three indices were not related to the CES-D total score or three of the four subscales. The CES-D Somatic scale was positively related to those depressed persons with the highest number of total PHDI somatic complaints. However, among the depressed group there were more persons scoring greater than 1.5 standard deviations above the mean on the CES-D Depressive Affect scale (n = 81) than on the Somatic scale (n = 65). CONCLUSIONS: The CES-D and its Somatic scale were relatively unbiased by the respondent's somatic complaints. The CES-D can continue to be considered valid under these circumstances.

Affect↗
PubMed2004

Selective deletion of the alpha5 subunit differentially affects somatic-dendritic versus axonally targeted nicotinic ACh receptors in mouse.

We have compared the functional properties of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) within both somatic and presynaptic domains of superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurones from wild-type (WT) mice with those expressed by SCG neurones from mice with a targeted deletion of the gene for the alpha5-subunit. The functional profile of somatic nAChRs was assayed by direct macroscopic current recording and from measurements of nicotinic agonist-induced calcium transients with fura-2 imaging. The profile of nAChRs at presynaptic sites was assayed by measurement of nicotinic agonist-induced transmitter release (as preloaded [3H]noradrenaline) under conditions of action potential blockade. We have examined the responses to the nicotinic agonists acetylcholine, nicotine, cytisine, dimethylphenylpiperazinium iodide (DMPP) and epibatidine. Macroscopic current and calcium imaging assays revealed several differences in the functional profile of somatic nAChRs in WT SCG neurones compared with those from mice with the alpha5 subunit deleted. Somatic nAChRs in control animals were more potently activated by cytisine as compared to DMPP. In contrast, DMPP was consistently more potent than cytisine in mice lacking the alpha5 nAChR subunit. Differences in the somatic nAChR rank order of potency were most prominent after a least 1 day in vitro. The magnitude of somatic nAChR responses to nicotinic agonists was not substantially different in control mice compared with those of alpha5 subunit-deleted animals. Comparison of presynaptic nAChR-mediated responses in WT versus alpha5 subunit-deleted animals revealed a very different set of changes in the functional profile of prejunctional nAChRs compared with somatic nAChRs. In contrast to somatic nAChRs, the responses of prejunctional receptors were markedly enhanced in alpha5 knockout animals compared with control. Furthermore, all prejunctional receptor responses were most potently activated by DMPP in both control and in alpha5 subunit-deleted mice. Hence, the presence or absence of the alpha5 subunit did not affect the rank order of potency of agonists at preterminal sites but greatly affected the magnitude of presynaptic nAChR-mediated responses. The enhanced efficacy of nicotine at presynaptic receptors was corroborated in an acute atrium preparation from postnatal alpha5 subunit-deleted mice. These results confirm and significantly extend our previous observation that in the sympathetic nervous system, somatic and prejunctional receptors are different and rely on the presence of the alpha5 subunit in a distinct manner.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Somatization and psychiatric disorder in the NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area study.

OBJECTIVE: Somatization has often been viewed as a defense against awareness of emotional distress or as a masked version of depression. This report examines whether community residents with high levels of functional somatic symptoms also report overt psychological distress and whether somatization is associated with any specific psychiatric disorder. METHOD: Analyses used data from the community sample of the National Institute of Mental Health Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) study, a population-based survey of psychiatric morbidity among more than 18,000 residents of five U.S. communities. RESULTS: Increasing number of somatization symptoms was strongly associated with overt expression of psychological distress and psychiatric symptoms. Among ECA respondents with five or more current functional somatic symptoms, 63% reported current psychological symptoms and 50% met criteria for a current psychiatric diagnosis (compared to 7% and 6%, respectively, among those with no current somatization symptoms). Somatization symptoms showed strongest associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms, intermediate association with symptoms of psychotic disorders, and weakest associations with symptoms of substance abuse and antisocial personality. CONCLUSIONS: ECA study respondents with high levels of somatization symptoms typically reported overt psychological distress, especially anxiety and depression. Patterns of response do not support a dissociation between physical and emotional symptoms. Functional somatic symptoms appear to be common expressions of distress instead of defenses against awareness.

Adolescent↗