INTRODUCTION Major depressive disorder (MDD) and osteoporosis are two common disorders with high morbidity and mortality rates. Conflicting data have found associations between MDD and low bone mineral density (BMD) or osteoporosis, although causative factors are still unclear. A pilot study was designed with the aim to assess the relationship between MDD and BMD in postmenopausal women with MD...

Prior research has shown a relationship between early onset marijuana (MJ) use and depression; however, this relationship is complex and poorly understood. Here, we utilized passive music listening and fMRI to examine functional brain activation to a rewarding stimulus in 75 participants [healthy controls (HC), patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), frequent MJ users, and the combinatio...

The purpose of this study was to describe symptoms of PTSD and major depression in abused Latinas and to explore the relationships among intimate partner violence (IPV) experiences, these symptoms, and health related quality of life (HRQOL). The rate of PTSD was 69.7% and of major depressive disorder (MDD) was 57.6%. The comorbidity of PTSD and MDD was 54.5%. PTSD and MDD were not consistently ...

Examining associations between subtypes of major depressive disorder (MDD) and substance use disorders (SUDs) might elucidate mechanisms of comorbidity between MDD and SUDs. This study evaluated prospective relations between SUDs and melancholic MDD. A cohort of community-dwelling participants with lifetime history of MDD (N = 460) were assessed for DSM-IV mental disorders using structured clin...

Anhedonia, the decreased capacity to experience pleasure, is a defining symptom of unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD). This review summarizes definitions and measurement issues related to the assessment of hedonic capacity in MDD, epidemiological research addressing linkages between anhedonia and MDD, as well as biomedical research investigating the neurobiology of anhedonia in both pre-c...

This study examined the relationship among child maltreatment, parental bonding, and a lifetime history of major depressive disorder (MDD) in a sample of 119 Latino students. Forty five students reported a lifetime history of MDD and 74 reported not having a lifetime history of MDD. The results indicated that emotional abuse and maternal overprotection were significantly associated with having ...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) is higher in those with low levels of educational attainment, the unemployed and those with low social status. However the extent to which these factors cause MDD is unclear. Most of the available data comes from studies in developed countries, and these findings may not extrapolate to developing countries. Examining the relationship ...

Converging evidence suggests a central role for dysfunction of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). Underlying mechanisms may include altered GABAergic function. Expression of somatostatin (SST), an inhibitory neuropeptide localized to a subset of GABA neurons, has been shown to be lower in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex ...

OBJECTIVE The lack of the disease biomarker to support objective laboratory tests still constitutes a bottleneck in the clinical diagnosis and evaluation of major depressive disorder (MDD) and its subtypes. We used metabonomic techniques to screen the diagnostic biomarker panels from the plasma of MDD patients with and without early life stress (ELS) experience. METHODS Plasma samples were co...

According to the emotion-context insensitivity (ECI) hypothesis, major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with a diminished ability to react emotionally to positive stimuli and with blunting of defensive responses to threat. That defensive responses are blunted in MDD seems inconsistent with the conceptualization and diagnostic nosology of MDD. The present study tested the ECI hypothesis i...