Panagiotis Ferentinos

Bio: Panagiotis Ferentinos is an academic researcher from National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The author has contributed to research in topics: Medicine & Bipolar disorder. The author has an hindex of 18, co-authored 78 publications receiving 924 citations. Previous affiliations of Panagiotis Ferentinos include King's College London & Athens State University.

Genome-wide association study of more than 40,000 bipolar disorder cases provides new insights into the underlying biology

Abstract: Bipolar disorder is a heritable mental illness with complex etiology. We performed a genome-wide association study of 41,917 bipolar disorder cases and 371,549 controls of European ancestry, which identified 64 associated genomic loci. Bipolar disorder risk alleles were enriched in genes in synaptic signaling pathways and brain-expressed genes, particularly those with high specificity of expression in neurons of the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Significant signal enrichment was found in genes encoding targets of antipsychotics, calcium channel blockers, antiepileptics and anesthetics. Integrating expression quantitative trait locus data implicated 15 genes robustly linked to bipolar disorder via gene expression, encoding druggable targets such as HTR6, MCHR1, DCLK3 and FURIN. Analyses of bipolar disorder subtypes indicated high but imperfect genetic correlation between bipolar disorder type I and II and identified additional associated loci. Together, these results advance our understanding of the biological etiology of bipolar disorder, identify novel therapeutic leads and prioritize genes for functional follow-up studies.

The neuropsychiatry of multiple sclerosis: Focus on disorders of mood, affect and behaviour

Abstract: symptoms are common in multiple sclerosis (MS). They include two broad categories of disturbances: abnormalities in cognition, and abnormalities of mood, affect and behaviour. The present review deals with the epidemiology, clinical features, etiology and treatment of disturbances included in the second category, i.e., major depression, fatigue and sleep disorders, bipolar disorder, euphoria, pathological laughing and crying, anxiety, psychosis and personality changes. Major depression is one of the most common neuropsychiatric disorders in MS with an approximate 50% lifetime prevalence rate. Early recognition and management of depression in MS is of major importance because it is a key predictor of morbidity, mortality, quality of life, possibly physical outcome and disease exacerbations, adherence to immunomodulatory treatments and suicide risk in MS patients, as well as of the caregiver's distress and quality of life. The etiopathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders in MS has been incompletely investigated. It is postulated that a complex interplay of biological, disease-related, behavioural and psychosocial factors contribute to the pathophysiology of most of them. Management of neuropsychiatric symptoms in MS is often effective, although commonly based on evidence provided by case studies and uncontrolled trials. A comprehensive biopsychosocial neuropsychiatric approach is essential for the optimal care of patients with MS.

Prevalence of major depression in ALS: Comparison of a semi-structured interview and four self-report measures

Abstract: This study aimed to compare prevalence estimates of current major depression obtained with a semi-structured interview and four frequently used self-report depression severity measures in a sample of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. Thirty-seven ALS patients (56.8% males) aged 37 – 80 years (mean 62.0 � 10.7) without respiratory insuffi ciency or dementia were studied during hospitalization or on a follow-up visit. SCID-IV interview as well as self-report Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), ALS Depression Inventory (ADI), Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-I) were administered. Kappa coeffi cients of diagnostic agreement between various instruments were calculated. Results showed that 37.8% of patients had a lifetime diagnosis of depression and in 13.5% depression followed ALS onset. Percentages of patients ‘ diagnosed ’ with current major depression were: 21.6% (SCID-IV), 16.7% (HADS-D � 11), 16.2% (ADI � 29), 25% (CES-D � 24) and 24.3% (BDI-I � 16). High kappa values were recorded between CES-D, BDI-I and SCID-IV as well as between HADS-D and ADI. CES-D, BDI-I and SCID-IV gave the highest prevalence estimates of current major depression in ALS patients and were in poor agreement with estimates based on HADS and ADI; it is suggested that this is possibly because the former give a far greater emphasis on physical symptoms of depression than the latter.

Psychometric evaluation of the Fatigue Severity Scale in patients with major depression

Abstract: Purpose This study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), a widely used unidimensional fatigue measure, in patients with major depression.

Human biochemical genetics

Abstract: So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to

Meta-analysis of prevalence

Abstract: Meta-analysis is a method to obtain a weighted average of results from various studies. In addition to pooling effect sizes, meta-analysis can also be used to estimate disease frequencies, such as incidence and prevalence. In this article we present methods for the meta-analysis of prevalence. We discuss the logit and double arcsine transformations to stabilise the variance. We note the special situation of multiple category prevalence, and propose solutions to the problems that arise. We describe the implementation of these methods in the MetaXL software, and present a simulation study and the example of multiple sclerosis from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 project. We conclude that the double arcsine transformation is preferred over the logit, and that the MetaXL implementation of multiple category prevalence is an improvement in the methodology of the meta-analysis of prevalence.

Affective temperament, attachment style, and the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak: an early report on the Italian general population.

Abstract: The outbreak of COVID-19 is severely affecting mental health worldwide, although individual response may vary. This study aims to investigate the psychological distress perceived by the Italian general population during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to analyze affective temperament and adult attachment styles as potential mediators. Through an online survey, we collected sociodemographic and lockdown-related information and evaluated distress, temperament, and attachment using the Kessler 10 Psychological Distress Scale (K10), the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego-Autoquestionnaire short version (TEMPS-A) and the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ). In our sample (n = 500), 62% of the individuals reported no likelihood of psychological distress, whereas 19.4% and 18.6% displayed mild and moderate-to-severe likelihood. Cyclothymic (OR: 1.24; p < 0.001), depressive (OR: 1.52; p < 0.001) and anxious (OR: 1.58; p = 0.002) temperaments, and the ASQ "Need for approval" (OR: 1.08; p = 0.01) were risk factors for moderate-to-severe psychological distress compared to no distress, while the ASQ "Confidence" (OR: 0.89; p = 0.002) and "Discomfort with closeness" were protective (OR: 0.92; p = 0.001). Cyclothymic (OR: 1.17; p = 0.008) and depressive (OR: 1.32; p = 0.003) temperaments resulted as risk factors in subjects with moderate-to-severe psychological distress compared to mild distress, while the ASQ "Confidence" (OR: 0.92; p = 0.039) and "Discomfort with closeness" (OR: 0.94; p = 0.023) were protective. Our data indicated that a relevant rate of individuals may have experienced psychological distress following the COVID-19 outbreak. Specific affective temperament and attachment features predict the extent of mental health burden. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first data available on the psychological impact of the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic on a sizeable sample of the Italian population. Moreover, our study is the first to investigate temperament and attachment characteristics in the psychological response to the ongoing pandemic. Our results provide further insight into developing targeted intervention strategies.

Neurological Anatomy in Relation to Clinical Medicine

Abstract: can be recommended strongly to anyone interested in the modern treatment of neoplastic diseases. This monograph presents a discussion of the current concepts of clinical and pathological classification of Hodgkin's disease, approaches to therapy and clinical management. Among the advantages of the presentation are the excellent compilations of the classifications of the disease and tabulations of results achieved to date with regard to therapy and survival. While the author has carefully reviewed the pertinent material, his comments and conclusions are inexplicable in many instances. Examples include the recommendation for radical surgery in early or focal disease. None of the surgical series is a randomized prospective study nor do the majority include an adequate number of cases for statistical validity to warrant the author's recommendation. In presenting Kaplan's results with radical radio-therapy, there is an excellent reproduction of data showing the superiority of radical versus conventional radiotherapy. The author comments nevertheless that conventional therapy is \"fairly satisfactory !\" The scheme for radiotherapy of Stage I is reasonable, but the method employed is not that of most centers utilizing the radical approach in this country. For Stage III disease the plan seems less comprehensible since it involves treatment of involved but not adjacent areas. If it is intended to be \"curative,\" there is inadequate therapy for adjacent areas. If it is intended to be palliative, it would be unnecessary to treat asymptomatic although involved areas. The discussion of chemotherapy consists of general comments regarding efficacy and toxicity without a well defined analysis of comparative responses derived from objective assessment. A few opinions are cited without data to support the claims. In presenting clinical problems in the management of the disease, there are references to the immunological studies of patients with Hodgkin's disease, but no description of the specific immunologic status. Extra-nodal Hodgkin's disease as a specific entity also appears to have been neglected. In summary, this monograph provides an interesting review of some advances in Hodgkin's disease. The quality of the presentation in terms of organization and conclusions could be improved. The diagnosis and proper understanding of neurologic disorders depend heavily on thorough knowledge of the structure of the nervous system, and of the relationships between structure and function. Dr. Brodal's work represents an authoritative exposition of these relationships. The present edition is a thorough revision of the original book, published in English in 1946. Comparison of the two volumes provides a …

β ℕ Revisited

Abstract: We have obtained two results since leaving Chapter 3 which make this return to βℕ possible. The first of these was Corollary 4.30 in which we found, under the assumption of the Continuum Hypothesis, that ℕ* contains a dense subset of 2C P-points. The second was Corollary 6.30 in which we saw that no point of ℕ* has its own type as a relative type with respect to any copy of ℕ contained in ℕ*. Here we will make use of these two properties of ℕ* to continue the investigation of βℕ and especially of ℕ*.