Mental disorders are common in the general population; every year about 25% of the total European population is affected by a mental condition. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders might be underestimated. Emerging evidence highlights the role of immune response as a key factor in MDs. Immunological biomarkers seem to be related to illness progression and to treatment effectiveness; several studies suggest strong associations among IL-6, TNFa, S100b, IL 1b, and PCR with affective or schizophrenic disorders. The purpose of this review is to examine and to understand the possible link between mental disorders and interleukin 33 to clarify the role of this axis in the immune system. We found 13 research papers that evaluated interleukin 33 or interleukin 31 levels in subjects affected by mental disorders. Eight studies investigated cytokines in affective disorders. Three studies measured levels of IL-33 in schizophrenia and two studies focused on patients affected by autism spectrum disorders. Alterations in brain structure and neurodevelopmental outcome are affected by multiple levels of organization. Disorders of the autoimmune response, and of the IL-33/31 axis, may therefore be one of the factors involved in this process. These results support the evidence that alarmins, particularly the IL-33/31 axis, need more consideration among researchers and practitioners.

Background and Objectives: to investigate the current state of art in the study of personality disorders in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC), also taking into account the dimensional approach. Materials and Methods: this systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. We included articles written in English or Italian, published in peer reviewed journals from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2020. Results: after the screening, 10 studies were included. The results suggest that CSC patients are not characterized by the prevalence of a formal personality disorder, but they are better explained by typical personality traits that may alter their relationship with others. CSC patients seems to be characterized by high levels of aggressiveness and anxiety traits along with low sociability. We propose a model of disease where stress exacerbates prior specific traits in a vicious circle where some traits might be involved in disease progression and manifestation. Conclusions: maladaptive personality traits might be an essential feature of the disease and may represent a possible link between psychiatric symptoms, such as insomnia, anxiety, and depression, and endocrinological patterns. Further research should use a specific assessment scale evaluating both the level of interpersonal functioning and specific maladaptive traits.

Amyloid precursor protein and its derivates represent a central factor in the process of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Since mental illnesses share with AD cognitive impairment, amyloid indicators have been used to explore the unknown pathophysiologic mechanisms underlining psychiatric illness. This work aims to compare the role of amyloid markers, together with tau proteins, among various mental disorders evaluating the possible role of altered amyloid metabolism in the onset and in the course of psychiatric diseases, considering the relationship with cognitive impairment in dementia. This review includes articles written in English, published between 1 January 2011 and 31 January 2021, which evaluated amyloid and tau proteins in psychiatric patients. After screening, 31 studies were included in the review. Results suggest that amyloid metabolism is altered in major psychiatric disorders and that it could be a marker of cognitive impairment. Nevertheless, the role of amyloid in mental diseases seems to be related to neurodevelopmental alteration as well as neurodegeneration processes, like in AD. The role of amyloid in the pathogenesis of mental disorders is still unknown. Amyloid should not be only considered as a marker of cognitive impairment in mental illness, but also for altered neurodevelopment.

The consequences of the pandemic on mental health are among the most important side effects of COVID-19. Wide concerns have emerged both regarding vaccine hesitation in the general population, and the vaccine’s implementation plan. The aim of this study is to evaluate how the scientific community has investigated the relationship between the COVID-19 vaccine and mental disorders. Contrary to expectations, having a full-blown psychiatric pathology seems to positively affect the attitude towards the vaccine, except for PTSD. The intense fear that accompanied the current world emergency has made this pandemic unique; we discuss how it might be one of the factors involved in this result. Further experimental investigations are needed to estimate how personality traits, hyperarousal, and negative emotions influence vaccine compliance both in the general population and in people living with mental disorders.

Background: The relevance of the association between mental disorders and other conditions might have been underestimated due to its complexity. Central Serous Chorioretinopathy (CSC) is an ophthalmological disorder associated with many psychiatric factors. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the association between mental disorders and CSC. Methods: Articles about studies performed on humans on CSC published in peer-reviewed journals from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2020 were included in the review. Results: We selected 21 research papers. Nine studies measured stress and anxious depressive symptoms, which are associated with CSC onset and recurrences, emerging as a state marker of the disease. Four out of the five studies focused on sleep disorders suggested a reliable association with CSC. Four studies evaluated other various psychiatric factors. The role of psychopharmacological medication has still not been elucidated (three studies). Conclusion: Multiple pieces of evidence highlights that CSC might arise in the context of systemic disease. This notion, together with the increasing evidence supporting a link between psychiatric disorders and choroidal thickness, suggests that CSC and mental disorders may share some etiopathogenetic pathways. Further research is needed to better investigate possible common etiopathogenetic pathways, especially vascular, immunological and endocrinological systems.

(1) Background: Subthreshold autism is a sub-clinical pattern of autism spectrum disorder-like (ASD-like) traits, including poor social skills, cognitive rigidity, anxiety, and aloofness. These ASD-like traits are significantly more prevalent among parents and relatives of participants with autism; however, evidence suggests that subclinical autistic traits are not restricted to the family members of individuals with autism but rather are continuously distributed in the general population. Though the autistic subclinical form is perhaps prevalent among adults, little attention has been paid to the association between autistic traits and global functioning in adolescence. The aim of the present study is to investigate the subthreshold autism phenotype in adolescence and its relationship with arousal correlates, exploring gender differences emerging in the sample. (2) Methods: A sample of 725 students (293 males and 432 females; mean age 17.19) were recruited from three high schools in Southern Italy. They were assessed by the following instruments: Autism Spectrum Quotient, Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum, Ritvo Autism and Asperger Diagnostic Scale 14, and Hyperarousal Scale. (3) Results: In males, significant direct correlations between all dimensions of arousal and all variables related to autistic traits emerged except for the correlations between the H-Scale “Introspection score”, the AQ questionnaire “Total score” (p = 0.094), and the AdAS-Spectrum questionnaire “Empathy factor” (p = 0.210); in females, significant positive correlations between all dimensions of arousal and all variables related to autistic traits emerged. (4) Conclusions: In the sample of adolescents with subclinical profiles of autistic traits, the Empathy factor of the AdAS Spectrum questionnaire was significantly higher in the male group than in the female group, underscoring lower empathic abilities in the former group. In the male group, the empathy factor did not have a statistically significant correlation with the H-scale introspection factor or with the autistic traits measured by AQ. We suppose that in male adolescents, another hypothetical factor seems to intervene in the relationship between autistic traits and arousal. Otherwise, empathy is a preponderant factor closely related to hyper-arousal responses in female adolescents with autistic traits.

No abstract

No abstract