Epigenetic regulation in psychiatric disorders

Posted on April 29, 2007 by Maurice Preter MD

Environmental impact actually important.

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 8, 355-367 (May 2007) | doi:10.1038/nrn2132

Epigenetic regulation in psychiatric disorders

Nadia Tsankova¹, William Renthal¹, Arvind Kumar¹ & Eric J. Nestler¹ About the authors

Many neurological and most psychiatric disorders are not due to mutations in a single gene; rather, they involve molecular disturbances entailing multiple genes and signals that control their expression. Recent research has demonstrated that complex ‘epigenetic’ mechanisms, which regulate gene activity without altering the DNA code, have long-lasting effects within mature neurons. This review summarizes recent evidence for the existence of sustained epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation in neurons that have been implicated in the regulation of complex behaviour, including abnormalities in several psychiatric disorders such as depression, drug addiction and schizophrenia.

Posted in Psychiatry/Neurology |

Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome: randomised controlled trial

Posted on April 29, 2007 by Maurice Preter MD

See my comments on this in the full text version.

BMJ. 2006 Feb 4;332(7536):266-70. Epub 2005 Dec 23.

Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome: randomised controlled trial.

Puhan MA, Suarez A, Lo Cascio C, Zahn A, Heitz M, Braendli O.

Horten Centre, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of didgeridoo playing on daytime sleepiness and other outcomes related to sleep by reducing collapsibility of the upper airways in patients with moderate obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome and snoring. DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Private practice of a didgeridoo instructor and a single centre for sleep medicine. PARTICIPANTS: 25 patients aged > 18 years with an apnoea-hypopnoea index between 15 and 30 and who complained about snoring. INTERVENTIONS: Didgeridoo lessons and daily practice at home with standardised instruments for four months. Participants in the control group remained on the waiting list for lessons. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Daytime sleepiness (Epworth scale from 0 (no daytime sleepiness) to 24), sleep quality (Pittsburgh quality of sleep index from 0 (excellent sleep quality) to 21), partner rating of sleep disturbance (visual analogue scale from 0 (not disturbed) to 10), apnoea-hypopnoea index, and health related quality of life (SF-36). RESULTS: Participants in the didgeridoo group practised an average of 5.9 days a week (SD 0.86) for 25.3 minutes (SD 3.4). Compared with the control group in the didgeridoo group daytime sleepiness (difference -3.0, 95% confidence interval -5.7 to -0.3, P = 0.03) and apnoea-hypopnoea index (difference -6.2, -12.3 to -0.1, P = 0.05) improved significantly and partners reported less sleep disturbance (difference -2.8, -4.7 to -0.9, P < 0.01). There was no effect on the quality of sleep (difference -0.7, -2.1 to 0.6, P = 0.27). The combined analysis of sleep related outcomes showed a moderate to large effect of didgeridoo playing (difference between summary z scores -0.78 SD units, -1.27 to -0.28, P < 0.01). Changes in health related quality of life did not differ between groups. CONCLUSION: Regular didgeridoo playing is an effective treatment alternative well accepted by patients with moderate obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. Trial registration ISRCTN: 31571714.

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PMID: 16377643 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

Posted in Psychiatry/Neurology |

An investigation into the acute and long-term effects of selected yogic postures on fasting and postprandial glycemia and insulinemia in healthy young subjects

Posted on April 29, 2007 by Maurice Preter MD

An investigation into the acute and long-term effects of selected yogic postures on fasting and postprandial glycemia and insulinemia in healthy young subjects

Alternatives (or complements?) to Glucophage?

Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 2005 Jul-Sep;49(3):319-24.

Related Articles,Links

An investigation into the acute and long-term effects of selected yogic postures on fasting and postprandial glycemia and insulinemia in healthy young subjects.

Manjunatha S, Vempati RP, Ghosh D, Bijlani RL.

Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

The study was conducted to examine the hypothesis that yogasanas help in the treatment of diabetes mellitus by releasing insulin from the pancreas. Twenty healthy young voluntees (17 male, 3 female; age 19-31 years) participated in the study. Each volunteer performed four sets of asanas in random order for 5 consecutive days each with a 2-day gap between consecutive sets of asanas. The four sets of asanas were: (I) dhanurasana + matsyendrasana, (II) halasana + vajrasana, (III) naukasana + bhujangasana, and (IV) setubandhasana + pavanamuktasana. Blood samples were collected on days 4 and 5 of each set of asanas for measurement of glucose and insulin levels before the asanas, within 10 min after performing the asanas, and 30 min after ingestion of 75 g glucose, which in turn was ingested immediately after the second blood sample. A standard 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was also done before and after the study. On the days of the pre-study or post-study OGTT, no asanas were done. The serum insulin levels after the asanas were lower (P<0.05) than those before the asanas. However, the serum insulin level 0.5 h after the post-asana oral 75 g-glucose challenge was higher (P<0.05) in Set IV than the 0.5 h postprandial insulin level in the pre-study OGTT; the same trend was observed in other sets as well although statistically not significant. The observations suggest that the performance of asanas led to increased sensitivity of the B cells of pancreas to the glucose signal. The increased sensitivity seems to be a sustained change resulting from a progressive long-term effect of asanas. The study is significant in that it has for the first time attempted to probe the mechanism by which yogasanas help diabetes mellitus.

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