PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J Vevera

Publications and source records attributed to J Vevera.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

[Cholesterol, violence and suicide--history of errors].

BACKGROUND: Studies examining the associations between psychiatric disorders, violence, suicidality and lowering cholesterol levels bring contradictive results. A biological mechanism for this relation is offered by the Engelberg's theory. The aim of our study is to review all biological studies, trying to test this hypothesis. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Engelberg's theory was cited in 207 articles indexed in the Web of Science - 31.7 2005. Five other articles, not citing the theory but closely related to this topic were also included into the review. Only 20 biological studies examining the hypothesis were found, and only 7 of them supported it. Further we demonstrate that because of selection bias, association studies cannot be used to test this hypothesis. Interestingly from 43 associative studies published in psychiatric journals, 77% findings supported the Engelberg theory while studies demonstrating the opposite results are published mostly in journals targeted to internal medicine- from 11 papers 82% publicatitions did not supported the theory. CONCLUSIONS: Though the evidenced based knowledge is wildly accessible, outdated hypothesis is used to explain controversial results.

Cholesterol↗
PubMed2005

Red blood cell triiodothyronine uptake as membrane parameter of depression.

We tested the hypothesis considering the role of hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis (HPT), L-triiodothyronine (L-T3) uptake into erythrocytes, and the role of membrane lipids in the development and treatment of affective disorders. Changes in kinetic parameters (V(max), maximal velocity and K(M), apparent Michaelis constant) of L-T3 uptake into red blood cells (RBCs) and changes in membrane fluidity in a group of 24 patients with major depression were measured before treatment and after 1 month of treatment with citalopram. Parameters V(max) and K(M), as well as membrane microviscosity, were significantly increased in depressed patients both before and after treatment in comparison with healthy subjects. We concluded that the function of the membrane transporter for L-T3 in RBC is changed in depression. This change is probably connected with alteration of membrane fluidity and/or transporter-lipid interactions. We did not find any normalization of the measured parameters after 1 month of treatment. The results show the importance of composition and physical properties of the lipid bilayer for transmembrane transport of L-T3 and support the hypothesis that the HPT axis is in depression.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Cholesterol concentrations in violent and non-violent women suicide attempters.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether women with a history of violent suicide attempts have lower serum cholesterol concentrations than those who attempted suicide by non-violent methods. Our retrospective study used a case-control design to compare serum total cholesterol concentration, hematocrit, red blood cell count and body mass index (BMI) in women with a history of violent (n = 19) or non-violent (n = 51) suicide attempts and of non-suicidal controls (n = 70) matched by diagnosis and age. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with age as the covariate was used to analyze differences in cholesterol levels in groups according to violence. Violence was found to be a significant factor (P = 0.016). Using the Scheffé test, a significant difference (P = 0.011) was revealed between the group of violent and non-violent suicide attempters and between the violent suicide attempters and the control group. Patients with a violent suicidal attempt have significantly lower cholesterol levels than patients with non-violent attempts and the control subjects. Our findings suggest that suicide attempts should not be considered a homogeneous group. They are consistent with the theory that low levels of cholesterol are associated with increased tendency for impulsive behavior and aggression and contribute to a more violent pattern of suicidal behavior.

Adult↗