Relationship between odor perception and depression in the Japanese elderly

Abstract

Odor perception has been studied in patients with various mental disorders; however, no consensus has been reached as to its detection, identification, or pleasantness/unpleasantness of odors especially in patients with depression. One hundred and nineteen normal elderly individuals living at home were exposed to odors of rose, perfume, white ginger, Indian ink, cigarette smoke, milk, feces and orange scent using the scratch and sniff method. They were asked to rate the strength of each odor, its pleasantness or unpleasantness, their liking for it, and their familiarity with it. They were also asked to complete a self-rating depression scale (SDS). The relationship of the score of each psychological olfactory scale with the SDS score and the difference in the score of each psychological scale between high-SDS and low-SDS groups are discussed.

Amphetamine causes dopamine depletion and cell death in the mouse olfactory bulb

“…It is interesting that both depression and amphetamine withdrawal in humans are associated with diminished interest in reward stimuli and accumulated data suggest potential common neurobiological substrates underlying depressive states observed in these psychiatric conditions (Paterson and Markou, 2007). While olfactory dysfunction has been reported in patients with depression (Pause et al, 2001;Satoh et al, 1996), the association of this phenomena with depressive-like symptoms related to amphetamine withdrawal remains to be evaluated. Effects of amphetamine (AMPH) administration on the dopamine (DA), DOPAC levels and DOPAC/DA ratios in the olfactory bulb (A) and striatum (B).…”

Depressive symptoms and olfactory function in older adults

“…Satoh et al have found a negative relationship between the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) scores and perceived intensities of three of eight odors in elderly Japanese men. 23 There was no correlation between the SDS scores and olfactory intensity ratings in elderly Japanese women. A single study addressed possible relationship between olfactory measures and depressive symptomatology in older, nonclinical population of European origin.…”

“…24 The two studies did not address the problem of reliability and validity of the instruments used for the assessment of depressive symptoms. 23,24 This issue is important because somatic complaints in older subjects may be misinterpreted as representing depressive symptomatology. The BDI used in the Greek study contains several somatic items 24 and thus has been criticized as a tool for the measurement of late-life depression.…”

“…25,26 Moreover, although some authors reported alterations in olfactory threshold in depressed psychiatric patients, [11][12][13][14] olfactory threshold was not assessed in the two studies on nonclinical older adults. 23,24 The primary purpose of the present study was to search for correlations between depressive symptoms measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) and olfactory function (threshold and identification abilities) in non-clinical older adults. The GDS was selected because it is a simple instrument with yes/no answers specifically developed to measure depression in older populations.…”

Pathogenesis of neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric manifestations in childhood-onset lupus: an overview

“…[68][69][70][71] A meta-analysis of 14 published trials however concluded that serum anti-ribosomal P measurements were not sensitive in diagnosing NPSLE and did not distinguish between NPSLE subsets. [72][73][74][75][76] The few pediatric NPSLE studies so far have only demonstrated a higher prevalence of these and anti-dsDNA and anti-Sm antibodies, in childhood than adult onset SLE without any clear causal or pathogenic association yet elucidated. 4,77,78 Our group at University College London (UCL), recently described the observation that serum anti-Sm antibodies levels correlate positively with higher levels of nitrated nucleosomes, a serum marker of nitrosative stress, as measured by a novel capture ELISA.…”