Are atypical depression,borderline personality disorder and bipolar II disorder overlapping manifestations of a common cyclothymic diathesis?

The constructs of atypical depression, bipolar II disorder and borderline personality disorder (BPD) overlap. We explored the relationships between these constructs and their temperamental underpinnings. We examined 107 consecutive patients who met DSM-IV criteria for major depressive episode with atypical features. Those who also met the DSM-IV criteria for BPD (BPD+), compared with those who did not (BPD-), had a significantly higher lifetime comorbidity for body dysmorphic disorder, bulimia nervosa, narcissistic, dependent and avoidant personality disorders, and cyclothymia. BPD+ also scored higher on the Atypical Depression Diagnostic Scale items of mood reactivity, interpersonal sensitivity, functional impairment, avoidance of relationships, other rejection avoidance, and on the Hopkins Symptoms Check List obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, anger-hostility, paranoid ideation and psychoticism factors. Logistic regression revealed that cyclothymic temperament accounted for much of the relationship between atypical depression and BPD, predicting 6 of 9 of the defining DSM-IV attributes of the latter. Trait mood lability (among BPD patients) and interpersonal sensitivity (among atypical depressive patients) appear to be related as part of an underlying cyclothymic temperamental matrix.     

Unusual tubulins with deviant genetic code in the hypotrich ciliate Euplotidium itoi

Recently, we have shown the presence of molecules belonging to the cholinergic signalling system in the ciliate Paramecium primaurelia and in the sarcodine Dictyostelium discoideum . Propionylcholinesterase (PrChE) activity has been detected in single-cell amoebae of D. discoideum , using cytochemical, electrophoretic, and spectrophotometric methods (Falugi et al., Chemosphere , 48:407–414, 2002; Amaroli et al., Europ. J. Protistol ., 39:213–222, 2003). It has been suggested that this enzyme activity is involved in cell–cell and cell–environment interactions, as its inhibition by xenobiotic compounds affects cell migration and aggregation. In this work, we have spectrophotometrically evaluated the effect of an ELF-EMF of 300 T, 50 Hz, on PrChE activity after exposure of single-cell amoebae from 1 h up to 48 h at 22°C. The enzyme activity was inhibited significantly by 1-h- and 3-h exposures, whereas it was similar to the control value after a 4-h exposure. A significant increase in PrChE activity was found after 5- and 24-h exposures, while a decrease in PrChE activity appeared in 48-h-exposed samples. The increased PrChE activity detected in 24-h-exposed cells returned to the control value 24 h after transferring the amoebae to standard conditions. A delay in both migration and aggregation processes was observed in 3 h-exposed cells, corresponding to a decreased PrChE activity. After a 24-h exposure, a decrease in the fission rate and an increase in the cell size were found.