For patients with CAD undergoing a cardiac rehabilitation program, depression, anxiety, and Type D personality were associated with worse cognitive performance independent of clinical CAD severity and sociodemographic characteristics.

BackgroundThe hypothesis that microbial infections may be linked to mental disorders has long been addressed for Borna disease virus (BDV), but clinical and epidemiological evidence remained inconsistent due to non-conformities in detection methods. BDV circulating immune complexes (CIC) were shown to exceed the prevalence of serum antibodies alone and to comparably screen for infection in Europe (DE, CZ, IT), the Middle East (IR) and Asia (CN), still seeking general acceptance.MethodsWe used CIC and antigen (Ag) tests to investigate BDV infection in Lithuania through a case-control study design comparing in-patients suffering of primary psychosis with blood donors. One hundred and six acutely psychotic in-patients with no physical illness, consecutively admitted to the regional mental hospital, and 98 blood donors from the Blood Donation Centre, Lithuania, were enrolled in the study. The severity of psychosis was assessed twice, prior and after acute antipsychotic therapy, by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). BDV-CIC and Ag markers were tested once after therapy was terminated.ResultsWhat we found was a significantly higher prevalence of CIC, indicating a chronic BDV infection, in patients with treated primary psychosis than in blood donor controls (39.6 % vs. 22.4 %, respectively). Free BDV Ag, indicating currently active infection, did not show significant differences among study groups. Higher severity of psychosis prior to treatment was inversely correlated to the presence of BDV Ag (42.6 vs. 34.1 BPRS, respectively; p = 0.022).ConclusionsThe study concluded significantly higher BDV infection rates in psychotic than in healthy Lithuanians, thus supporting similar global trends for other mental disorders. The study raised awareness to consider the integration of BDV infection surveillance in psychiatry research in the future.

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This study aimed to examine the influence of thyroid hormone (TH) levels and genetic polymorphisms of deiodinases on long-term outcomes after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In total, 290 patients who have experienced AMi were evaluated for demographic, clinical characteristics, risk factors, tH and NT-pro-BNP. Polymorphisms of TH related genes were included deiodinase 1 (DIO1) (rs11206244-C/T, rs12095080-A/G, rs2235544-A/C), deiodinase 2 (DIO2) (rs225015-G/A, rs225014-T/C) and deiodinase 3 (DIO3) (rs945006-T/G). Both all-cause and cardiac mortality was considered key outcomes. Cox regression model showed that NT-pro-BNP (HR = 2.11; 95% CI = 1.18-3.78; p = 0.012), the first quartile of fT3, and DIO1 gene rs12095080 were independent predictors of cardiac-related mortality (HR = 1.74; 95% CI = 1.04-2.91; p = 0.034). The DIO1 gene rs12095080 AG genotype (OR = 3.97; 95% ci = 1.45-10.89; p = 0.005) increased the risk for cardiac mortality. Lower fT3 levels and the DIO1 gene rs12095080 are both associated with cardiac-related mortality after AMI. Recent clinical research in cardiovascular disease as well as in coronary artery disease (CAD) has provided evidence that altered thyroid hormone (TH) metabolism, including low total triiodothyronine (T3) syndrome or pre-existing subclinical primary hypothyroidism, is an important indicator of adverse short-term and long-term outcomes, including mortality 1-5. These changes in thyroid homeostasis are known as "euthyroid sick syndrome" 6,7 or "non-thyroidal illness syndrome" (NTIS) 8,9 and are defined by low serum levels of free T3 (fT3), T3 and high levels of reverse T3 (rT3) followed by normal or low levels of thyroxine (T4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Low T3 syndrome is observed in about one third of patients following acute cardiovascular events and has been linked to the severity of the disease and its adverse prognosis 10. This syndrome has been established in patients with heart failure (HF) 11-14 , myocardial infarction (MI) 2,15-18 , and has been linked to the cardiac remodelling process 19-21 and poor prognosis 1,3,4,13,22,23. Studies suggest that variations of TH within clinically normal ranges, such as isolated reduction in fT3 level or higher level of free T4 (fT4), could constitute a model of abnormal TH metabolism. These variations could act as a risk factor for CAD, in a similar fashion to overt or subclinical hypothyroidism, thereby influencing the occurrence as well as severity of coronary atherosclerosis and its related outcomes 2,24-32 .

Background: Focusing on detection of sleep apnoea early in the cardiac rehabilitation process may improve the recovery process and reduce recurrence of cardiovascular events. Patients who continue to be undiagnosed may experience a significantly worse outcome during their cardiac rehabilitation and recovery. Diastolic dysfunction has both diagnostic and prognostic importance in the management of coronary artery disease. We hypothesise that undiagnosed/untreated sleep apnoea in middle-aged coronary artery disease patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction changes the pattern of diastolic filling close to that in elderly patients without sleep apnoea. Methods and results: This cross-sectional study included the 450 coronary artery disease patients with undiagnosed sleep apnoea who had left ventricular ejection fraction ⩾50% and were referred consecutively to the Clinic of Cardiovascular Rehabilitation within two weeks after treatment for acute coronary syndrome. Polysomnographic and echocardiographic measurements were analysed. Mild to severe sleep apnoea was defined as the apnoea-hypopnea index ⩾5. Age was dichotomised into under the age of 60 years and age 60 years or over. Up to 35% of coronary artery disease patients were likely to have undiagnosed sleep apnoea. There was a statistically significant interaction between the effect of sleep apnoea and age group on diastolic function defined as the ratio peak flow velocity in early diastole/peak flow velocity in atrial contraction ratio ( p=0.036). This ratio was significantly ( p=0.029) lower in the mild-severe sleep apnoea group (0.97, 95% confidence interval 0.88–1.06) than in the non-sleep apnoea group (1.09, 95% confidence interval 1.03–1.15) among middle aged (<60 years) coronary artery disease patients. Therefore, filling patterns in the middle aged (<60 years) patients with sleep apnoea resemble those observed in the elderly (⩾60 years) patients without sleep apnoea. The effect of sleep apnoea on left ventricular filling pattern in elderly was not observed. Conclusions: Age modifies the effect of sleep apnoea on cardiovascular outcomes. The findings that undiagnosed sleep apnoea impairs diastolic function in a middle-aged coronary artery disease patient underscore the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnoea. It is recommended to train and educate cardiac rehabilitation staff on the importance of sleep disorders in this population.