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Background: Major depression is one of the most prevalent psychiatric diseases, whereas schizophrenia is one of the worst human diseases. Therefore, finding low-cost treatment methods with few side effects can be of great help to patients. The present study was done to compare the serum levels of vitamin D, parathyroid hormone, calcium, and phosphorous in individuals with major depression and schizophrenics with healthy subjects. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, serum levels of vitamin D, parathyroid hormone, calcium, and phosphorous were assessed in 100 major depressive, 100 schizophrenic, and 100 healthy subjects. Subjects with a history of renal failure, hepatic failure, parathyroid disease, and consumption of vitamin D, parathyroid hormone, calcium, and phosphorous supplements were excluded from the study. SPSS software version 15 was used for data analysis. Results: Depression was accompanied with decreased serum levels of vitamin D and increased serum levels of parathyroid hormone (p>0.001, p=0.01), but there was not a significant difference between depression and healthy subjects in calcium and phosphorous serum levels (p=0.69, p=0.15). Schizophrenia presented a significant correlation with decreased serum levels of vitamin D and phosphorous (p>0.001, p=0.01), but there was not a significant difference between schizophrenic and healthy subjects in calcium and parathyroid hormone serum levels (p=0.47, p=0.67). Conclusion: Since depression and schizophrenia are accompanied by decreased serum level of vitamin D, consumption of supplementary vitamin D can be helpful in the treatment of these patients.

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Background: Fluoxetine or Prozac is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Considering the importance of this drug for the treatment of neurological disorder, such as anorexia and depression its side effects on the endocrine axis of body are of significance. Hence, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of fluoxetine on cortisol and thyroid hormone levels and body weight in male rates.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 30 adult male rats (230±20 gr BW) were randomly divided into 3 equal groups: sham, control and treatment. Rats in the control group were kept in normal conditions in animal house, whereas treatment and sham groups were, respectively, injected 32 mg/kg BW of fluoxetine and 0.9 ml of normal saline (i.p) for 35 days. During this time, body weight of all animal was measured and after 35 days, blood was collected by heart puncture and separation of serums to evaluate T3, T4, fT3, fT4, and cortisol hormones through RIA method. The results were statisticaly evaluated by one-way ANOVA test.

Results: Taking fluoxetine for 35 days significantly decreased the level (p&le0.05) in serum concentrations of Ft3, fT4, T4 and cortisol hormones compared to the control and sham groups. However, no significant differences were observed in the serum concentration of T3 hormone in treatment group compared to the the control group. The drug also caused a significant decrease in the average weight of rats in the treatment group compared to the control group (p&le 0.05).

Conclusion: By affecting the activity of different levels of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal hormones axis, fluoxetin decreases the level of cortisol hormones. It also reduces the activity of the thyroid gland this is probably due to the increased prolactin secretion through inhibiting TRH secretion and reducing the production of TSH and thyroid hormones

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Abstract

Background: Vitamin D was recognized with protective effects on nerve cells of Parkinson’s patients. The relationship between several VDR gene polymorphisms and age and risk of the disease was determined. Also, the relationship between VDR gene FOKI genotypes and PD was specified. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the relationship between polymorphic loci of FokI, TaqI, BsmI, ApaI and serum factor related to vitamin D metabolism in Isfahan population.

Materials and Methods: Case- control study of 125 Parkinson’s patients with their matched control individuals has been investigated based on Parkinson's disease brain bank criteria of Great Britain. After receiving consent, serum levels were measured. The genetic material was isolated by Miller protocol and polymorphisms has been analyzed and confirmed by repeated PCR-RFLP.

Results: Comparing the five serum factors between healthy subjects and patients with Parkinson's disease, we have  shown a significant reduction in the levels of calcium, ALP and PTH (p<0.01). However, none of the levels of vitamin D and phosphate show any kind of significant relationship between patients and control subjects. Concentration of blood serumic factors including calcium and PTH showed p-values less than 0.01 between Parkinson's patients and control subjects according to different genotypes containing FokI-F allele,ApaI-A allele and BsmI-b allele .

Conclusion: The result of this study showed that each of FokI and ApaI recessive alleles can influence serum calcium and parathyroid hormone between healthy individuals and Parkinson's patients significantly.

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