Recent data from pharmacological and genetic studies indicate a significant function of GAL in stress-related disorders. By using a tag SNP approach covering the locus encoding preprogalanin (PPGAL), earlier findings of female-specific associations of polymorphisms in this locus with panic disorder were expanded to a larger sample of 268 outpatients with anxiety disorders (ADs). Within a larger sample of 541 inpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD), we then tested associations of one PPGAL tag SNP with specific depression symptom clusters and HPA-axis activity assessed by the combined dexamethasone-suppression/CRH-stimulation
test both at inpatient admission and discharge this website (n = 298). Gender specificity as well as dependence of the association on levels of circulating estrogens was analyzed. Genotyping revealed high linkage disequilibrium in the promoter area of
the PPGAL gene, which includes several estrogen-response elements. Confirming earlier results, rs948854, tagging this promoter region, was associated with more severe anxiety pathology in female AD patients, but not in males. In premenopausal female MDD patients, the same allele of rs948854 was associated click here with more severe vegetative but not cognitive depressive symptoms at discharge and worse treatment response on antidepressant medication. Furthermore, this allele was associated with higher HPA-axis activity at admission. No significant case-control associations SDHB could be observed. However, because of power limitations of both patient samples, small effects cannot be excluded. The reported associations in independent samples of AD and MDD support an estrogen-dependent function of GAL in pathophysiology of anxiety and depression, affecting response to antidepressant treatment. Neuropsychopharmacology ( 2010) 35, 1583-1592; doi: 10.1038/npp.2010.30; published online 17 March 2010″
“We determined the efficiency of thermoregulation by the Southernmost liolaemids Liolaemus sarmientoi and L. magellanicus from Patagonia, Argentina (51
degrees S), by measuring body (T(b)), microenvironmental, and operative temperatures in the field, and preferred body temperatures in the laboratory (T(pref)). L. sarmientoi was found to be a poor thermoregulator, whereas L. magellanicus was deemed to be a constrained thermoconformer. Among all known species of Lioloemus, L. sarmientoi and L. magellonicus had the lowest T(b).s when tested in the field; however, their T(b).s were similar to other liolaemids. These data suggest that these southernmost liolaemid species have not evolved appropriate thermoregulatory behaviors or made adequate physiological adaptations to face the extreme thermal challenges of their environment. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.