There is an increasing body evidence pointing to a close integration between the central nervous system (CNS) and immunological functions with lymphocytes playing therein a central role. The authors provide arguments to consider blood lymphocytes as a convenient probe of--an albeit--limited number of cellular functions, including gene expression. The use of brain biopsies of living patients is unrealistic for biochemical investigation, therefore lymphocytes may be a convenient and accessible alternative. Numerous studies showed similarities between receptor expression and mechanisms of transduction processes of cells in the nervous system (e.g. neurons and glia) and lymphocytes. In several neuropsychiatric disorders, alteration of metabolism and cellular functions in the CNS, as well as disturbances in the main neurotransmitter and hormonal systems are concomitant with altered function and metabolism of blood lymphocytes. We summarize relevant investigations on depression, stress, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and schizophrenia. New techniques such as cDNA microarray gene expression and proteomics may give clues to define molecular abnormalities in psychiatric disorders and could eventually reveal information for diagnostic and treatment purposes. Taken together, these considerations suggest that lymphocyte could reflect the metabolism of brain cells, and may be exploited as a neural and possible genetic probe in studies of psychiatric disorders.

Lymphocytes as a neural probe: potential for studying psychiatric disorders.

Melatonin receptors in humans: biological role and clinical relevance.

http://naturaleater.com/science-articles/circadian-lunar-annual-rhythms.pdf

Human responses to the geophysical daily, annual and lunar cycles.

http://if-pan.krakow.pl/pjp/pdf/2009/3_383.pdf

Physiology and pharmacology of melatonin in relation to biological rhythms.

The cyclic nature of depressive illness, the diurnal variations in its symptomatology and the existence of disturbed sleep–wake and core body temperature rhythms, all suggest that dysfunction of th...

Melatonin in mood disorders

https://www.gwern.net/docs/melatonin/2001-pacchierotti.pdf

Melatonin in psychiatric disorders: a review on the melatonin involvement in psychiatry.

Numerous studies suggest that seasonal birth may play a pathogenic role in the development of mental disorders. A birth excess of 10% during winter and spring has been shown in schizophrenia. The few studies carried out on affective disorders revealed a significant increase of births in the first quarter of the year in bipolar disorders and major depressive disorder. Subjects with seasonal affective disorder show a peak of births in May. Data on personality, eating and 'neurotic' disorders are less consistent. At the moment there are no data in the literature about anxiety disorders.

Season of birth in psychiatry. A review.

A dysfunctional relationship between parents and children can influence cognitive and emotional development and contribute to the development of psychiatric disorders, particularly panic disorder (PD). With the aim of exploring childhood experiences of parenting in PD patients, we compared subjectively perceived climate and objective recall by administering the Parental Bonding Instrument and 10 adjunctive items to 22 out-patients and 22 matched controls. Our analysis showed that DSM-III-R-diagnosed PD patients reported their parents to be significantly less caring than did the control group, while there was no significant difference in objective recall of parenting experiences.

Attachment and panic disorder.

Several studies have investigated the seasonal distribution of the birth dates of patients with psychiatric diseases. Our purpose was to verify if there is a specific distribution (by month) of birth

Season of birth in panic disorder.

Abnormal light-related behaviors have been described for patients with panic disorder (PD). The present study was undertaken to investigate the retinal light response in PD using electroretinography (ERG). The authors conducted b-wave ERG measurements with a bright light (after dark adaptation) in 28 patients with PD and 28 control subjects. There were no significant differences in the mean b-wave amplitude between the two groups, but the retinal response to light in PD patients was generally lower than in healthy subjects. A large interindividual variability was found; also noted was a significant difference in the mean b-wave amplitude between the right and left eyes in the control group. The data indicate subtle variation of retinal photosensitivity in a subgroup of patients with PD. Because dopaminergic retinal activity affects b-ERG amplitude, the authors hypothesize that the dopaminergic system is involved in the response to light in PD patients.

Claudia Pacchierotti

Papers

Melatonin in psychiatric disorders: a review on the melatonin involvement in psychiatry.

Season of birth in psychiatry. A review.

Attachment and panic disorder.

Season of birth in panic disorder.

Electroretinogram B-wave amplitude in panic disorder.