The aim of this study was the assessment of −308G/A tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α gene polymorphism and intPLA2 gene polymorphism in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and healthy controls.

We studied 91 non-related patients with AN and 144 healthy women (blood donors and students). The mean age of women from study group was 18.22 years (SD ± 3.13 years) and from control group was 31.71 years (SD ± 8.22).

Gene polymorphisms were studied with the use of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. TNF-α gene polymorphism consists of G/A substitution in −308 promoter region. IntPLA2 gene polymorphism is related to intron 1, in which restrictive region is found and recognized by BanI enzyme.

We did not obtain statistically significant differences in the frequency of genotypes and alleles of −308G/A TNF-α polymorphism between the study and control groups (genotypes: P = 0.106, alleles: P = 0.076). We did analogous analysis in the restrictive and bulimic subgroups. We did not observe statistically relevant differences in the frequency of genotypes (P = 0.700) and alleles (P = 0.305). We did not obtain statistically relevant difference in the frequency of genotypes and alleles of intPLA2 gene between the study group and controls (genotypes: P = 0.300, alleles: P = 0.331). We did analogous analysis in both subgroups of AN. We did not observe statistically relevant differences in the frequency of genotypes (P = 0.344) and alleles (P = 0.230).

There was no statistically relevant trend for the association between TNF-α polymorphism and AN. We did not find association between studied polymorphism of intPLA2 gene and risk of AN.

Tricyclic antidepressants and serotonin reuptake inhibitors are considered to be equally effective, but differences may have been obscured by internally inconsistent measurement scales and inefficient statistical analyses.

To test the hypothesis that escitalopram and nortriptyline differ in their effects on observed mood, cognitive and neurovegetative symptoms of depression.

In a multicentre part-randomised open-label design (the Genome Based Therapeutic Drugs for Depression (GENDEP) study) 811 adults with moderate to severe unipolar depression were allocated to flexible dosage escitalopram or nortriptyline for 12 weeks. The weekly Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, and Beck Depression Inventory were scored both conventionally and in a more novel way according to dimensions of observed mood, cognitive symptoms and neurovegetative symptoms.

Mixed-effect linear regression showed no difference between escitalopram and nortriptyline on the three original scales, but symptom dimensions revealed drug-specific advantages. Observed mood and cognitive symptoms improved more with escitalopram than with nortriptyline. Neurovegetative symptoms improved more with nortriptyline than with escitalopram.

The three symptom dimensions provided sensitive descriptors of differential antidepressant response and enabled identification of drug-specific effects.