Papers by Jolana Wagner-Skacel
Frontiers in Psychiatry
BackgroundThe processes underlying believing have been labeled “creditions”, which are important ... more BackgroundThe processes underlying believing have been labeled “creditions”, which are important brain functions between emotion and cognition. Creditions are influenced by both internal and external factors, one of which is the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the vaccination against the disease.MethodsTo investigate believing processes shortly before the implementation of a mandatory vaccination in Austria, both vaccinated and unvaccinated workers in the health sector (WHS) were surveyed in December 2021/January 2022. In total, 1,062 vaccinated and 97 unvaccinated WHS (920 females) completed the online survey. Beliefs were assessed using the parameters of the credition model (narrative, certainty, emotion, and mightiness) with regard to (1) the COVID-19 pandemic in general, and (2) the vaccination. Type of emotion and narrative were divided into positive, negative, and indifferent. Moreover, the congruence between emotion and narrative was calculated.ResultsThe vac...
Antioxidants, Apr 26, 2022
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Wiener klinische Wochenschrift, 2022
Summary Background Personality functioning, also referred to as structural integration, describes... more Summary Background Personality functioning, also referred to as structural integration, describes basic emotion-related perception and regulation capacities directed towards the self and others. Patients with impairments of personality functioning experience difficulties in self-regulation and interpersonal relations. Although personality functioning has become increasingly important in psychotherapeutic and psychiatric diagnoses and treatment planning, there is little systematic evidence on the role of personality functioning in patients with chronic and somatic diseases. This article reviews empirical studies using standardized assessments of personality functioning in patients with chronic and somatic diseases and discusses the role of personality structure in psychosomatic medicine. Results Currently, there are only a limited number of studies using standardized assessments of personality functioning in patients with chronic or somatic diseases. The available evidence points to ...
Fragestellung/Zielsetzung: Studierende der Medizin sind während ihres Studiums einer Vielzahl an ... more Fragestellung/Zielsetzung: Studierende der Medizin sind während ihres Studiums einer Vielzahl an persönlichen Stressoren ausgesetzt und müssen in ihrer späteren klinischen Tätigkeit ebenso mit biopsychosozialen Krisen ihrer Patient*innen umgehen können. Das Wahlfach [zum vollständigen Text gelangen Sie über die oben angegebene URL]
Problemstellung/Ziele: Das Wahlfach,,Psychosoziale Krisenintervention und Stressbewältigung"... more Problemstellung/Ziele: Das Wahlfach,,Psychosoziale Krisenintervention und Stressbewältigung" wurde neu gestaltet und wird seit dem Wintersemester 2017/18 als eine acht Lehrblöcke (jeweils 3 Unterrichtseinheiten) umfassende Lehrveranstaltung (2 ECTS, jeweils pro Semester) durchgeführt.[zum vollständigen Text gelangen Sie über die oben angegebene URL]
Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2021
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in widespread socioecon... more Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in widespread socioeconomic restrictions including quarantine, social distancing and self-isolation. This is the first study investigating the psychological impact of the pandemic on patients waiting for liver or kidney transplantation, a particularly vulnerable group.Methods: Twenty-seven patients on the transplantation waiting list and 43 healthy controls took part in an online survey including the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-2), the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Alcohol Use Identification Test (AUDIT-C), the 12-item Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis Structure Questionnaire (OPD-SQS) and a questionnaire to determine cognitions and beliefs, attitude and fear related to COVID-19.Results: BSI-18 Somatization was increased in waiting list patients compared to controls. Correlation analyses indicated a relationship between Somatization and the fear of...
International Journal of Bipolar Disorders, 2021
Background The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, a global health crisis, has resulted in w... more Background The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, a global health crisis, has resulted in widespread socioeconomic restrictions including lockdown, social distancing, and self-isolation. To date, little is known about the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on patients with bipolar disorder as a particularly vulnerable group. Methods An online survey was conducted in Austria at two points of measurement (T1 April 2020 during the first lockdown vs. T2 May 2020 at post-lockdown). The sample comprises 20 patients with bipolar disorder (mean age = 49.4 ± 15.6 years) and 20 healthy controls (mean age = 32.7 ± 9.6 years). A 2 × 2 factorial design to compare two time points (T1 vs. T2) and two groups (patients vs. healthy controls) was used. Main outcome measures included the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18) and a (non-validated and non-standardized) assessment to determine COVID-19 fears and emotional distress due to social distancing. Multiple linear regre...
Nutrients, 2021
Nutritional interventions have beneficial effects on certain psychiatric disorder symptomatology ... more Nutritional interventions have beneficial effects on certain psychiatric disorder symptomatology and common physical health comorbidities. However, studies evaluating nutritional literacy in mental health professionals (MHP) are scarce. This study aimed to assess the across 52 countries. Surveys were distributed via colleagues and professional societies. Data were collected regarding self-reported general nutrition knowledge, nutrition education, learning opportunities, and the tendency to recommend food supplements or prescribe specific diets in clinical practice. In total, 1056 subjects participated in the study: 354 psychiatrists, 511 psychologists, 44 psychotherapists, and 147 MHPs in-training. All participants believed the diet quality of individuals with mental disorders was poorer compared to the general population (p < 0.001). The majority of the psychiatrists (74.2%) and psychologists (66.3%) reported having no training in nutrition. Nevertheless, many of them used nutri...
Antioxidants, 2021
Immune-mediated inflammatory processes and oxidative stress are involved in the aetiopathogenesis... more Immune-mediated inflammatory processes and oxidative stress are involved in the aetiopathogenesis of bipolar disorder (BD) and weight-associated comorbidities. Tryptophan breakdown via indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 (IDO-1) along the kynurenine axis concomitant with a pro-inflammatory state was found to be more active in BD, and associated with overweight/obesity. This study aimed to investigate tryptophan metabolism in BD compared to controls (C), stratified by weight classes, in a longitudinal setting, dependent on the incidence of BD episodes. Peripheral tryptophan, kynurenine, and neopterin were assessed in the serum of 226 BD individuals and 142 C. Three samples in a longitudinal assessment were used for 75 BD individuals. Results showed a higher kynurenine/tryptophan in both BD compared to C and overweight compared to normal weight persons. Levels remained stable over time. In the longitudinal course, no differences were found between individuals who were constantly euthymic or...
Langenbeck's Archives of Surgery, 2021
Background Health-related quality of life (HrQoL) and workability are related parameters to measu... more Background Health-related quality of life (HrQoL) and workability are related parameters to measure success of therapy. Both have been insufficiently explored in patients after liver transplantation (LT). Particularly little is known about patients’ attitude to return to work, employment status before LT, and how frequently there is any employment at any time after LT. Methods This is a single-center retrospective cohort study including 150 adult outpatients after LT. Liver transplantations had been performed between 1993 and 2018. The study was carried out from February to July 2018. The exclusion criteria were combined transplantations, positive screening for current alcohol abuse, and anxiety or depression. To evaluate HrQoL and fitness to work, the patients were tested using the Short Form 36, the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire, and the Work Ability Index. Key results The return rate of sufficiently filled-in questionnaires was 46.8% (66 patients). The mean age of patients ...
neuropsychiatrie, 2020
Summary Background Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is produced in the liver and binds to diff... more Summary Background Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is produced in the liver and binds to different complex receptor/coreceptor systems. Besides many other processes, FGF21 regulates the intake of simple sugars and alcohol. Increased levels of FGF21 decrease harmful alcohol intake in mice. To increase our understanding on the relationship between FGF21 and alcohol intake in humans, we aimed to measure FGF21 levels in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis (ALC) in comparison to patients with nonalcoholic liver cirrhosis (NALC) and healthy persons based on their present alcohol consumption. Methods Alcohol intake was verified by urinary ethyl glucuronide (uETG) levels, eating and drinking behaviour by a Food Frequency Questionnaire and FGF 21 plasma levels were determined by ELISA in 96 persons (ALC n = 41; NALC n = 34; healthy n = 21). Results Both ALC and NALC patients with elevated ETG levels (≥0.5 μg/ml; indicating alcohol consumption in the last 12–72 h) showed significantly...
The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 2021
Introduction: Circadian rhythms are associated with bipolar disorder (BD). This cross-sectional s... more Introduction: Circadian rhythms are associated with bipolar disorder (BD). This cross-sectional study aimed at investigating ARNTL and MAOA gene expression differences (1) between individuals with BD and controls, (2) between affective episodes, and (3) the relationship between ARNTL and MAOA expression.Methods: ARNTL and MAOA gene expression in peripheral mononuclear blood cells were analyzed from fasting blood samples (BD n= 81, controls n= 54) with quantitative real-time PCR operating on TaqMan® assays (normalized to 18S RNA expression). ANCOVAs corrected for age, sex, body mass index, and medication were used to evaluate expression differences and correlation analyses for the relation between ARNTL and MAOA expression.Results: ARNTL gene expression differed between affective episodes (F(2,78)= 3.198, p = 0.047, Partial Eta2= 0.083), but not between BD and controls (n.s.). ARNTL and MAOA expression correlated positively in BD (r = 0.704, p < 0.001) and in controls (r = 0.932, p < 0.001). MAOA expression differed neither between BD and controls, nor between affective episodes (n.s.).Discussion: Clock gene expression changes were observed in different affective states of BD. More precisely, ARNTL gene expression was significantly higher in euthymia than in depression. ARNTL and MAOA gene expression correlated significantly in BD and in controls, which emphasizes the strong concatenation between circadian rhythms and neurotransmitter breakdown.
Nutrients, 2020
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent disease, in which one third of sufferers do not re... more Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent disease, in which one third of sufferers do not respond to antidepressants. Probiotics have the potential to be well-tolerated and cost-efficient treatment options. However, the molecular pathways of their effects are not fully elucidated yet. Based on previous literature, we assume that probiotics can positively influence inflammatory mechanisms. We aimed at analyzing the effects of probiotics on gene expression of inflammation genes as part of the randomized, placebo-controlled, multispecies probiotics PROVIT study in Graz, Austria. Fasting blood of 61 inpatients with MDD was collected before and after four weeks of probiotic intake or placebo. We analyzed the effects on gene expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), nuclear factor kappa B subunit 1 (NFKB1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). In IL-6 we found no significant main effects for group (F(1,44) = 1.33, p = ns) nor time (F(1,44) = 0.00, p = ns), but interaction was significant (F(1,4...
Nutrients, 2020
Gut microbiota are suspected to affect brain functions and behavior as well as lowering inflammat... more Gut microbiota are suspected to affect brain functions and behavior as well as lowering inflammation status. Therefore, an effect on depression has already been suggested by recent research. The aim of this randomized double-blind controlled trial was to evaluate the effect of probiotic treatment in depressed individuals. Within inpatient care, 82 currently depressed individuals were randomly assigned to either receive a multistrain probiotic plus biotin treatment or biotin plus placebo for 28 days. Clinical symptoms as well as gut microbiome were analyzed at the begin of the study, after one and after four weeks. After 16S rRNA analysis, microbiome samples were bioinformatically explored using QIIME, SPSS, R and Piphillin. Both groups improved significantly regarding psychiatric symptoms. Ruminococcus gauvreauii and Coprococcus 3 were more abundant and β-diversity was higher in the probiotics group after 28 days. KEGG-analysis showed elevated inflammation-regulatory and metabolic p...
Nutrients, 2020
Objectives: Disturbances in the gut–brain barrier play an essential role in the development of me... more Objectives: Disturbances in the gut–brain barrier play an essential role in the development of mental disorders. There is considerable evidence showing that the gut microbiome not only affects digestive, metabolic and immune functions of the host but also regulates host sleep and mental states through the microbiota–gut–brain axis. The present review summarizes the role of the gut microbiome in the context of circadian rhythms, nutrition and sleep in psychiatric disorders. Methods: A PubMed search (studies published between April 2015–April 2020) was conducted with the keywords: “sleep, microbiome and psychiatry”; “sleep, microbiome and depression”; “sleep, microbiome and bipolar disorder”, “sleep, microbiome and schizophrenia”, “sleep, microbiome and anorexia nervosa”, “sleep, microbiome and substance use disorder”, “sleep, microbiome and anxiety”; “clock gene expression and microbiome”, “clock gene expression and nutrition”. Only studies investigating the relationship between slee...
European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2019
European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2019
European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2019
Pathway Analysis and ConsensusPathDB. In addition to that we conducted Polygenic Risk Score analy... more Pathway Analysis and ConsensusPathDB. In addition to that we conducted Polygenic Risk Score analysis (PRS) in the subset of the 8 WGS analyzed families. Results: In our analysis we focused on rare variants with a minor allele frequency (MAF) below 1% (according to the ExAC database). Our first analysis is an "extended exome" analysis of WGS data. We applied a narrow analysis model to identify overlapping, rare, co-segregating variants in the affected individuals in one family which are not shared by healthy individuals within the same family. In addition, we also applied an analysis model in which we take into account incomplete penetrance. All synonymous, missense, nonsense and frameshift variants were included. In total we identified 1 protein truncating and 9 missense variants. PRS analyses in the families show very diverse risk profiles for healthy and affected individuals among the 8 analyzed families. Discussion: Most identified variants are classified as not disease causing and are typically not carried by all affected individuals in one family. Gene set enrichment analyses (IPA and ConsensusPathDB) mainly highlight immunological genes suggesting a possible role of immunological processes in BD which has also been reported for schizophrenia. As a next analysis step we will include information on clinical subgroups, such as BDI and BDII and analyze the combined effect of PRS data and rare variants on clinical phenotype. Based on our results we plan re-sequencing of identified promising genes in an independent cohort of 1000 BD cases and 1000 controls of German origin to further support their potential role in BD. We are currently working on the incorporation of other types of genetic variation (structural variation) and the establishment of analysis pipelines for intergenic regions.
Neuropsychobiology, 2018
Introduction: Individuals suffering from psychiatric disorders experience high levels of illness ... more Introduction: Individuals suffering from psychiatric disorders experience high levels of illness burden and a significantly reduced quality of life. Despite targeted psychopharmacological strategies and complementary psychotherapeutic procedures only moderate effects are obtained, and the risk of relapse is high in many patients. Worldwide, psychiatric diseases such as depression are continuously increasing, challenging the personal life of the affected as well as their families, but also whole societies by increasing disability, early retirement and hospitalization. According to current scientific knowledge psychiatric disorders are caused by a multifactorial pathogenesis, including genetics, inflammation and neurotransmitter imbalance; furthermore, also lifestyle-associated factors gain rising importance. In line with this, there is growing evidence that the gut microbiota and nutrition have an impact on the onset and course of psychiatric disorders. Aim: This narrative review hig...
Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2018
Objectives: The gut microbiome harbors substantially more genetic material than our body cells an... more Objectives: The gut microbiome harbors substantially more genetic material than our body cells and has an impact on a huge variety of physiological mechanisms including the production of neurotransmitters and the interaction with brain functions through the gut-brain-axis. Products of microbiota can affect methylation according to preclinical studies. The current investigation aimed at analyzing the correlation between gut microbiome diversity and the methylation of the clock gene ARNTL in individuals with Bipolar Disorder (BD). Methods: Genomic DNA was isolated from fasting blood of study participants with BD (n= 32). The methylation analysis of the ARNTL CG site cg05733463 was performed by bisulfite treatment of genomic DNA with the Epitect kit, PCR and pyrosequencing. Additionally, DNA was extracted from stool samples and subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing. QIIME was used to analyze microbiome data. Results: Methylation status of the ARNTL CpG position cg05733463 correlated significantly with bacterial diversity (Simpson index: r=-0.389, p= 0.0238) and evenness (Simpson evenness index: r=-0.358, p= 0.044). Furthermore, bacterial diversity differed significantly between euthymia and depression (F(1,30)= 4.695, p= 0.039). Discussion: The results of our pilot study show that bacterial diversity differs between euthymia and depression. Interestingly, gut microbiome diversity and evenness correlate negatively with methylation of ARNTL, which is known to regulate monoamine oxidase A transcription. We propose that alterations in overall diversity of the gut microbiome represent an internal environmental factor that has an epigenetic impact on the clock gene ARNTL which is thought to be involved in BD pathogenesis.
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Papers by Jolana Wagner-Skacel