User:AWinslow2020/sandbox/Draft(Depression.Behavioral.Endocrinology)

DRAFT

Notes on “Thyroid Hormones and Depression: The Health In Men Study” :

Depression is a common mental health disorder that affects people of all ages. However, this study will focus on the depression and how it affects around 10 percent of men ages 65 and up. Even the so called “cause” of depression remains unknown many researchers have suggested that “overt or subclinical hypothyroidism” is connected to the increased number of individuals who experience symptoms of depression, resulting in the suggestion of thyroid functioning test being a regular part of mental health wellness exams especially in regards to depression and for older individuals. For almost half a century people have proposed the link of thyroid dysfunction to depression. T3 has increased the efficacy in which patients respond to antidepressants. However, the relationship between thyroid dysfunction and depression isn’t as straightforward as we would hope. A good portion of individuals who have depression do not express thyroid dysfunction and most adults with hypothyroidism don’t have depression. Additionally studies have mentioned that depression could be linked to the high concentration of thyroid hormones. In this study an experiment was conducted to see if the serum concentration of TSH and T4 are connected to the presence of depression in older men that do not have thyroid dysfunction. The results concluded that these depressed older men were more like to been past of current smokers, to be overweight, etc opposed to their non-depressed peers.However, over all the study mentions that the concentrations of both TSH and T4 have no relation to the presence of depression in older men that lack thyroid disease and additionally, no evidence that overt hypothyroidism contributed to the increase risk of depression in this group. The conductors of this study have come to the conclusion that thyroid hormones aren't likely to contribute significantly to depression in older men and that testing for thyroid hormone dysfunction during mental health exams would be uninformative and a waste of money. The study does emphasize in its discussion that this study was conducted on old men and they aren't sure if younger individuals would have the same or differing responses.

Notes on “Sweating away depression? The impact of intensive exercise on depression” :

This study conducted an experiment in which 30 moderately depressed men were randomly assigned to one of three group varying in difficulty. The individuals would work out for an hour three times a week for six weeks. Moderate- and high-intensity exercise improves depression levels (based on test such as the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, and Affective Neuroscience Personality Scale); however beta endorphin results were inconclusive. The conclusion of this study was that due to the inconclusive beta endorphin results the hypothesis that the PANIC system is connect to depression has not be conclusively confirmed.


 * Notes on “Use of Endocrine Hormones for Treating Depression” :
 * The disruption of endocrine hormones has been connected to the pathophysiology of depression. Some of these hormones such as adrenal, thyroid, and gonadal axis hormones have been used as antidepressant agents.
 * Adrenal axis hormones- Cortisol is released by the adrenal gland in response to physical and mental stress. The hormone CRH is released to respond to stress. CRH then triggers the release of adrenocorticotrophic hormone, which makes its way from the pituitary to the adrenal gland. Irregular regulation of HPA axis can result in weight loss, trouble sleeping, and suicidal thought.... (COME BACK)


 * Notes on “Adolescent chronic stress causes hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical hypo-responsiveness and depression-like behavior in adult female rats” :
 * Long lasting exposure to stress during adolescence can result in long-lasting changes in neuroendocrine function and emotional behaviors. This study consists of exposing female rats to two weeks worth of CVS in regards to neuroendocrine function, neuropeptide mRNA expression and depressive-like behavior during adolescence and adulthood. Overall this study depicts that exposure to chronic stress during adolescence plays a large role in how an individual will behave, having the ability to affect the way the female rat develop as it pertains to their adulthood.
 * The study was conducted on female rats because reportedly females are twice as likely to develop depression making it researchers feel as if sex plays and huge role in the occurrence of depression. Recent research conducted on rodents have confirmed this hypothesis with female rats being more affected by CVS in the long run oppose to their male counterparts. (COME BACKK)

Rough Draft of Notes


 * 1) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000632230001088X
 * 2) Hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis has been heavily observed in patients with major depression.Multiple studies have suggested that the Glucocorticoid receptors are less prevalent in patients with depression. An experiment was conducted on rats where they received the drug reserpine (which is known as a way to prompt depressive symptoms in human) and when the drug was administered the amount of glucocorticoid receptors decrease in the hippocampus, frontal cortex, and pituitary along with the spleen and the lymphocytes.
 * 3) Kynurenine pathway in major depression: evidence of impaired neuroprotection  https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/portal/files/1305778/guid-e11ca7ad-18f1-4c57-91f4-65f5c8113563-ASSET1.0#page=85  Myint, Aye
 * 4) Research has found that pro-inflammatory cytokines could be linked to the development of depression due to the fact that there are numerous sources that claim that these types of cytokines are higher in depressed individuals opposed to other individuals.
 * 5) The molecular aspects of oxidative & nitrosative stress and the tryptophan catabolites pathway (TRYCATs) as potential causes of depression  Paulina Wigner, Piotr Czarny , Piotr Galecki , Kuan-Pin Su , Tomasz Sliwinski,⁎
 * 6) https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kuan-Pin_Su/publication/319964577_The_molecular_aspects_of_oxidative_nitrosative_stress_and_the_tryptophan_catabolites_pathway_TRYCAT_as_potential_causes_of_depression/links/5ab060c7a6fdcc1bc0be1785/The-molecular-aspects-of-oxidative-nitrosative-stress-and-the-tryptophan-catabolites-pathway-TRYCAT-as-potential-causes-of-depression.pdf
 * 7) Depression is the most common mental disorder around the world and by 2020 it is suspected to become the second leading helath problem right behind heart diease  There is no concreate reason as to why depression develops, however there are some claims that researchers have found to make the most sense as to why depression occurs. There are studies connecting the development of depression to impaired tryptophan catabolites pathway, oxidative and nitrosative stress may play a heavy role in the role of depression. Overall depressed individuals tend to have lower plasma levels of zinc, coenzyme Q10, albumin, uric acid, vitamin E, and glutathione

Outline of "Behavior Endocrinology" Depression Section:

* Over the last 8 plus weeks I have been looking for a definitive "answer" as to why depression occurs and how it happens on a molecular and hormonal secreting level and I realized that I don't there is an answer because if that were the cause we would know how to solve it and millions of people wouldn't have to suffer from this disorder. Anywho, I realized that the "cause"of depression is by no means straight forward whether it be actions or life events that caused it or hormones that cause it. Overall, right now I think my approach to the project will be me basically stating what I stated here with the inclusion of proposed experiments and research results as to why depression is prevalent. I am excited yet curious to see how I do just because since I know there isn't one solid answer I want to include as much information about the topic that I possibly can.*

Contents

 * Depression (Behavior Endocrinology)
 * 1.1 What is Depression
 * 1.2 Glucocorticoids and Depression
 * 1.3 Sex Differences as it Pertains to Depression
 * 1.4 Conclusions

Depression (Behavior Endocrinology)[edit]
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity, that is capable of affecting a persons thought, behaviors, feeling and more. Depression can be developed due to a multitude of life events; such as the lost of a loved one, any type of abuse (mental, physical, emotional, sexual), being neglected, not feeling good enough, and more. Depression is currently the number one most prevalent mental health disorder and is even predicted to be the second most common health problem come 2020. The reason depression is such a universal epidemic is due to the fact that it's history such as: how it is occurs, why it occurs, when is an individual more susceptible to depression, etc. are relatively unknown due to its infancy. Multiple sources have confirmed patients with depression possess hyperactivity of the hypothalamus-pituitary- adrenal (HPA) axis, in addition to the increase levels of glucocorticoid

What is Depression (In Relation to Endocrinology)
Like previously mentioned depression is currently the most common mental health disorder effecting individuals. Stress is a physiological and/ or biological response from a living thing to a stressor. Stress is how the body combats physical, psychological, or even emotional stressors and depression (mood) is something that can either be triggered by stress (biology) or it can result in stress. The hypothalamic pituitary axis in particular is one specific way the body responds to stress (in addition to the authonomic nervous system).

Glucocorticoids and Depression
Role of Glucocorticoids

Glucocorticoids are multifunctional type of steroid due to the fact that they are able to be used as a means of regulating metabolism and immunity, in addition to being an endocrinological response to stress. Specifically, these steroids are capable of regulating neurogenesis, the gaining of new memories, emotional assessment of incidents, and more while stile being able to responding to stress. Glucocorticoids have the ability to suppress inflammatory pathways and prevent the stress outreach from corticotropin releasing hormone, the HPA axis, and the sympathetic nervous system. Overall glucocorticoids contribute massively to the maintenance of homeostasis in the body.

Glucocorticoid Resistance

Glucocorticoid effects on Depression

Glucocorticoid receptors are more lacking in individuals who have been diagnosed with depression oppose to their counterparts who do not have depression.

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000632230001088X 

Hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis has been heavily observed in patients with major depression.

''Multiple studies have suggested that the Glucocorticoid receptors are less prevalent in patients with depression. An experiment was conducted on rats where they received the drug reserpine (which is known as a way to prompt depressive symptoms in human) and when the drug was administered the amount of glucocorticoid receptors decrease in the hippocampus, frontal cortex, and pituitary along with the spleen and the lymphocytes. ''

Depression is said to be associated with dysfunction of the corticosteroid receptor function  resulting in the mass production and release of neurohormones that can result in symptoms associated with depression.

Sex Differences as it Pertains to Depression
Liked mention previously, depression is currently the leading mental health disorder in the world with it affecting mostly women. Women are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depression during some period of their lives. This statistic is made even more evident when going over and investing research experiments in regards to depression. Once individuals reach puberty, from that point on, more females have been diagnosed with depression then males and this trend continues up to and throughout adulthood. It is still not entirely sure why this is the case, however there have been multiple inferences as to why women as twice as likely to develop depression. One being that due to the fact that depression in men and women appears to differ, by women being more likely to show signs of internalized symptoms; meanwhile, men are more likely to have externalizing symptoms.

Depression in Women
The reason in which females are more likely to be diagnosed with depression is because it is most likely tied to hormonal changes. Women go through drastic hormonal changes multiple times in their life and even month during the time period of getting their first menstrual cycle to experiencing menopause. Additionally, women experience forms of depression that are associated with changes in ovarian hormones such as estradiol and progesterone. These forms of depression consist of premenstrual dysphoric disorder, postpartum depression, and post-menstrual depression and anxiety.


 * Menstruation

When a female gets her period there is a significant amount hormonal changes that her body will go through. When a female is on her menstrual cycle the shedding of the endometrium will occur (which is the bleeding that occurs); in addition to high levels of FSH and low levels of LH, E2 and P.

All these changes in hormonal activity


 * Postpartum

Directly after the birth of a child there is a significant decline in the levels of reproductive hormones that is possibly strongly is related to the contribution of the development of depression in women.


 * Menopausal

Menopause is the process in which women begin to stop having their menstruation cycles and the ovaries stop the monthly release of an egg. During menopause the ovaries decrease the production of estrogen levels, however the ovaries continue to make testosterone after estrogen stops and continues to do so after menopause. This change is a significant change in hormone level and could be a strong indicator as to why women are 2 to 4 times more likely to experience a major depression episode during menopause. A study concluded that women who are postmenopausal are at a greater risk of depression and they conducted the study by measuring vasomotor symptoms, changes in estradiol, FSH, and testosterone.

Conclusions
Even though copious amount of research has been conducted and leeway has been made there has yet to be a concrete pathway that has been confirmed to be the result of the development of depression. Depression is an epidemic that is infiltrating numerous peoples lives and it is hard to combat due to the fact that, despite being well studied, there are a lot of unknowns when it comes to depression. Knowing that sex hormones play a big role in the development of depression is slight improvement, due to the fact that there is now some kind of rational as to why women are twice as likely to be diagnosed; however the question still lies what is the over lapping factor for women who are depressed and men who are depressed. A resistance to glucocorticoids and/or a malfunction with glucocorticoid receptors, in which the the negative feedback does not reach the hypothalamus resulting in the over production of glucocorticoids with not enough receptors ...