The world is reeling under the crisis caused by corona virus disease (COVID-19), print, electronic and social media are flooded with numerous advisories issued by governments and other national & international agencies. While all this is being done with best of intentions so as to contain the spread of this viral disease, this is causing a significant negative impact on mental health of people specially person of obsessive-compulsive disorder with fear of contamination and excessive washing of hands.

Depression is a common mental disorder, which attributes to significant morbidity, disability and burden of care. A significant number of patients with depression still remain symptomatic after adequate trials of antidepressant treatment as well as psychotherapy, which is often referred to as treatment-resistant depression. Neuromodulation techniques—like electroconvulsive therapy, vagus nerve stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation, may be useful augmenting techniques in depression, mostly recommended for treatment-resistant cases. Robust evidence exists regarding the efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy in the management of treatment-resistant depression; however, other techniques are understudied. TMS has been increasingly studied in various psychiatric disorders including depression. It has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in major depressive disorder. Over the past two decades, TMS has been studied in diverse groups of the population with depression using several research designs. This article gives an overview of the efficacy of repetitive TMS in treatment-resistant depression with the recent evidence.

Introduction: The role of increased oxidative stress and alterations to the nitric oxide (NO) pathway have been implicated in major depressive disorder (MDD). The two pathways interact closely with each other but have not been studied simultaneously in MDD. This study aimed to assess and compare the levels of oxidative and nitrosative stress in the neutrophils (PMNs) of drug-naive MDD patients and their first-degree relatives. Methods: 29 drug-naive MDD patients and 27 healthy first-degree relatives and healthy controls aged 18–45 years were included in this study. An assessment of the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitrites, neuronal NO synthase (nNOS), and myeloperoxidase in PMNs, and cortisol in serum was carried out. Results: Compared to healthy controls, the generation of free radicals PMNs, myeloperoxidase activity, nNOS mRNA expression in PMNs, and cortisol level in serum were significantly higher in drug-naive depression patients. Indeed, increased levels of myeloperoxidase and serum cortisol were also noted in first-degree relatives. The total nitrite content in the PMNs and plasma however was significantly lower in both patients and first-degree relatives. Interestingly, a positive correlation was established in the ROS levels in the PMNs, plasma and neutrophil nitrite, and the serum cortisol level between MDD patients and their first-degree relatives. Conclusion: The results of this study contribute towards a better understanding of the familial association of depressive disorder, and demonstrate for the first time that neutrophil ROS/RNS, plasma nitrite, and serum cortisol levels are positively correlated between MDD patients and their first-degree relatives. However, further studies in larger, more diverse samples are needed to extend these pathways as potential biomarkers to identify persons at high risk for psychopathology at an early stage.

No abstract

There is limited literature on the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) during pregnancy. ECT is considered as a treatment of last resort during pregnancy. In this case series, we present the data of five patients who were administered ECT during pregnancy. The use of ECT required multidisciplinary approach involving psychiatrist, gynecologist, anesthetist and neonatologist. Two patients received ECT during the second trimester and three patients received ECT during the third trimester. In all the patients, ECT was administered by placing the patients in the left lateral position, glycopyrrolate was used for premedication, thiopentone was used for induction, and succinylcholine was used for muscle relaxation. Patients who were administered ECT close to the full-term were given injection betamethasone 12 mg intramuscularly on two consecutive days before starting of first ECT to promote fetal lung maturity. In all the five cases, no adverse maternal and fetal outcomes were encountered except for possible precipitation of labor in one case.