Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most common psychiatric disorders. However, a biochemical marker has yet to be established for clinical purposes. It is proposed that lysophosphatidic acid (LPA, 1-acyl-2-sn-glycerol-3-phosphoate) plays some important roles in emotional regulation of experimental animals. Therefore, in this study, we measured LPA levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma samples from patients with MDD. The participants were 52 patients and 49 normal healthy controls for CSF study, and 47 patients and 44 controls for plasma study. We used the Japanese version of the GRID Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (17-item version) for the assessment of depressive symptoms. We found no associations between LPA levels (CSF or plasma) and either diagnosis or severity of MDD, or with psychotropic medication. In conclusion, our data suggest that LPA levels likely would not serve as a practical biomarker of MDD.

Clinical and pharmacological studies of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have suggested that the serotonergic systems are involved in the pathogenesis, while structural imaging studies have found some neuroanatomical abnormalities in OCD patients. In the etiopathogenesis of OCD, few studies have performed concurrent assessment of genetic and neuroanatomical variables. We carried out a two-way ANOVA between a variable number of tandem repeat polymorphisms (5-HTTLPR) in the serotonin transporter gene and gray matter (GM) volumes in 40 OCD patients and 40 healthy controls (HCs). We found that relative to the HCs, the OCD patients showed significant decreased GM volume in the right hippocampus, and increased GM volume in the left precentral gyrus. 5-HTTLPR polymorphism in OCD patients had a statistical tendency of stronger effects on the right frontal pole than those in HCs. Our results showed that the neuroanatomical changes of specific GM regions could be endophenotypes of 5-HTTLPR polymorphism in OCD.

Aims: This study aimed to develop a Japanese version of the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC‐J) and to conduct a preliminary evaluation of its reliability and validity in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared with healthy controls (HCs). Methods: Thirty adults with ASD and 30 HCs completed the MASC‐J, Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), Autism‐Spectrum Quotient, and Japanese Adult Reading Test. Internal consistency, test–retest reliability, partial convergent validity with the RMET, and discriminative ability using receiver operating characteristic analysis were examined. Results: MASC‐J scores were significantly lower in the ASD group than in the HC group. The MASC‐J showed acceptable discriminative ability (area under the curve = 0.804), acceptable internal consistency, and excellent test–retest reliability. In the total sample, MASC‐J scores correlated with RMET scores, but this association was not significant within either group. In the ASD group, MASC‐J scores were positively associated with estimated full‐scale IQ. Overmentalizing and absence‐of‐mentalizing errors were more frequent in the ASD group, whereas undermentalizing errors did not differ between groups. Conclusion: These findings provide preliminary support for the MASC‐J as a measure of social cognition in Japanese‐speaking adults with ASD.

Aim: Major depressive disorder is a growing global concern with limited treatment options. Social stress contributes to its development, yet pharmacological prevention and mitigation remain underexplored. This study examined the effects of Saiko‐ka‐ryukotsu‐borei‐to (SRBT) on depressive and anxiety‐like behaviors in mice exposed to social defeat stress (SDS).Methods: C57BL/6J mice were subjected to daily 10‐min interactions with larger, more aggressive ICR mice for 10 consecutive days to induce SDS. Immediately following each session, mice were orally administered SRBT, fluoxetine (Flu), or saline (Sal), and were assigned to the SD‐SRBT, SD‐Flu, and SD‐Sal groups, respectively. Mice that received Sal without SDS exposure served as the normal control (NC) group. On the 11th day, behavioral assessments, including the elevated plus maze (EPM) test, tail suspension test (TST), and social interaction test (SIT), were conducted across the four groups. Plasma corticosterone levels were also measured.Results: SDS significantly increased anxiety‐like behavior in the EPM, as shown by reduced open arm time in the SD‐Sal and SD‐Flu groups. This effect was less evident in the SD‐SRBT group. Although the SD‐Flu group showed similar anxiety‐like behavior to the SD‐Sal group, no significant difference in open arm time was observed. SDS did not induce social avoidance or depressive‐like behavior in the SIT or TST, nor did it alter plasma corticosterone levels.Conclusion: This study suggested that SRBT has the potential to mitigate anxiety caused by social stress. However, further ongoing evaluation and investigation are required to assess the effectiveness of SRBT.

Background: Several schizophrenia guidelines have been published, showing treatment efficacy. However, no studies have examined recovery and pharmacological therapy or guideline adherence's impact on various schizophrenia states. This study aimed to investigate adherence to pharmacological guidelines across recovery, remission, and non‐remission states in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: This cross‐sectional study included 72 patients with schizophrenia who met the criteria for recovery, remission, or non‐remission. Adherence to pharmacological guidelines was measured using the Individual Fitness Score (IFS). Results: IFS was significantly higher in the recovery (88.1 ± 18.9) and remission (89.0 ± 16.7) groups than in the non‐remission group (65.59 ± 21.8) ( p < 0.01). However, no significant differences were observed between the recovery and remission groups. Receiver operating characteristic analysis identified 72 points on the IFS as a potential cutoff point between remission and non‐remission. Conclusion: These results show that higher adherence to pharmacological guidelines may be associated with recovery and remission state, compared with non‐remission state. The cutoff point between remission and non‐remission should be considered preliminary and exploratory because of a small sample. Clinical practice guidelines have been developed to standardize and improve the quality of medical care. Treatments following these guidelines have been reported to be effective.