Chinese university students often suffer from acute stress, which can affect their mental health. We measured and evaluated perceived stress in this population using the Simplified Chinese version of the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (SCPSS-10). The SCPSS-10, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) were conducted in 1096 university students. Two weeks later, 129 participants were re-tested using the SCPSS-10. Exploratory factor analysis yielded two factors with Eigen values of 4.76 and 1.48, accounting for 62.41% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated good fit of this two-factor model. The internal consistency reliability, as measured by Cronbach’s α, was 0.85. The test-retest reliability coefficient was 0.7. The SCPSS-10 exhibited high correlation with the PHQ-9 and GAD-7, indicating an acceptable concurrent validity. The SCPSS-10 exhibited satisfactory psychometric properties in Chinese university students.

Objectives: Neuroinflammation has been suggested that affects the processing of depression. There is renewed interest in berberine owing to its anti-inflammatory effects. Herein, we investigated whether berberine attenuate depressive-like behaviors via inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation in mice model of depression. Methods: Adult male C57BL/6N mice were administrated corticosterone (CORT, 20 mg/kg/day) for 35 days. Two doses (100 mg/kg/day and 200 mg/kg/day) of berberine were orally administrated from day 7 until day 35. Behavioral tests were performed to measure the depression-like behaviors alterations. Differentially expressed gene analysis was performed for RNA-sequencing data in the prefrontal cortex. NLRP3 inflammasome was measured by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, and immunofluorescence labeling. The neuroplasticity and synaptic function were measured by immunofluorescence labeling, Golgi–Cox staining, transmission electron microscope, and whole-cell patch-clamp recordings. Results: The results of behavioral tests demonstrated that berberine attenuated the depression-like behaviors induced by CORT. RNA-sequencing identified that NLRP3 was markedly upregulated after long-term CORT exposure. Berberine reversed the concentrations of peripheral and brain cytokines, NLRP3 inflammasome elicited by CORT in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus were decreased by berberine. In addition, the lower frequency of neuronal excitation as well as the dendritic spine reduction were reversed by berberine treatment. Together, berberine increases hippocampal adult neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity induced by CORT. Conclusion: The anti-depressants effects of berberine were accompanied by reduced the neuroinflammatory response via inhibiting the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome and rescued the neuronal deterioration via suppression of impairments in synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis.

This is the third version of the guideline of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) Task Force for the Pharmacological Treatment of Anxiety, Obsessive–Compulsive and Po...

The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between resting-state functional connectivity and the severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in 15 people who developed PTSD following recent trauma. Fifteen participants who experienced acute traumatic events underwent a 7.3-min resting functional magnetic resonance imaging scan within 2 days post-event. All the patients were diagnosed with PTSD within 1 to 6 months after trauma. Brain areas in which activity was correlated with that of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) were assessed. To assess the relationship between the severity of PTSD symptoms and PCC connectivity, contrast images representing areas positively correlated with the PCC were correlated with the subject’s Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale scores (CAPS) when they were diagnosed. Furthermore, the PCC, medial prefrontal cortex and bilateral amygdala were selected to assess the correlation of the strength of functional connectivity with the CAPS. Resting state connectivity with the PCC was negatively correlated with CAPS scores in the left superior temporal gyrus and right hippocampus/amygdala. Furthermore, the strength of connectivity between the PCC and bilateral amygdala, and even between the bilateral amygdala could predict the severity of PTSD symptoms later. These results suggest that early altered resting-state functional connectivity of the PCC with the left superior temporal gyrus, right hippocampus and amygdala could predict the severity of the disease and may be a major risk factor that predisposes patients to develop PTSD.