Abstract
A high prevalence of major mood disorders in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients has been reported. In this study, we investigated the frequency of previous or present major mood disorders in 65 patients with clinically definite multiple sclerosis (Poser criteria) and in 31 polyneuropathy (PNP) patients. All patients underwent a questionnaire designed after DSM-IV definitions for major mood disorders. A higher lifetime risk for development of a major mood disorder was evident in MS patients (log rank test.,p<0.001). Of all MS patients with a major mood disorder, at least 34% had one first-degree relative affected by a mood disorder, while the corresponding figure was 14% among PNP cases. Our data confirm the high lifetime risk for depression in MS patients and suggest that, at least in a subset of MS patients with depression, the genetic basis for depression operates with similar mechanisms as those at work in families with primary depression. However, this is not necessarily true for other subsets of depressed MS patients' families.
Sommario
Un'elevata prevalenza di disturbi dell'umore è stata più volte segnalata nei pazienti con sclerosi multipla (SM). Abbiamo pertanto studiato la prevalenza dei disturbi dell'umore in 65 pazienti con SM e 31 pazienti con polineuropatie (PNP). Tutti i pazienti venivano sottoposti ad intervista strutturata con un questionario basato sulle definizioni del DSM-IV relative ai disturbi dell'umore. Il rischio cumulativo di sviluppo di depressione maggiore era più elevato nella SM che nelle PNP. Il 34% dei pazienti con SM e disturbi dell' umore presentavano almeno un parente di primo grado con disturbi dell'umore, control il 14% per i pazienti con PNP e disturbi dell' umore. I nostri dati confermano l'elevato rischio cumulativo di depressione nella SM e suggeriscono che in un sottogruppo di pazienti con SM e depressione, la base genetica della depressione opera con meccanismi analoghi a quelli in atto nelle famiglie con depressione primaria.
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Salmaggi, A., Palumbo, R., Fontanillas, L. et al. Affective disorders and multiple sclerosis: a controlled study on 65 Italian patients. Ital J Neuro Sci 19, 171–175 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00831567
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00831567