ACTIVITY OF THE HYPOTHALAMIC-PITUITARY-ADRENAL AXIS AND INFLAMMATORY MEDIATORS IN MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER WITH OR WITHOUT METABOLIC SYNDROME Marko Martinac, Dragan Babić, Milenko Bevanda, Ivan Vasilj, Danijela Bevanda Glibo, Dalibor Karlović & Miro Jakovljević Mostar Center for Mental Health, Mostar Health Center, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina Clinical Department of Psychiatry, Mostar University Hospital, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina Clinical Department of Internal Medicine, Mostar University Hospital, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina Clinical Department of Psychiatry, Sestre Milosrdnice University Hospital Center, Zagreb, Croatia University of Mostar, School of Medicine, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina Clinical Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

IntroductionMore severe mental illnesses, like depression, are connected with various cardiovasCular risk factors, like hypertension, obesity, atherogenic dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, smoking and alcohol and other psychoactive substances abuse. Patients suffering from the depressive disorder display alterations of circadian rhythm, sleep disturbances, changes of autonomic nervous system, hypothalamus-hypophysis-adrenal gland axis (HHN) hyperactivity and changes of immunologic system. On the other hand, the somatic diseases, like obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and diabetes mellitus type II are lately ever more often accepted as significant comorbid states in patients with more severe mental diseases. There is ever more data showing that the severe mental illnesses also affect the somatic health and only lately, these states are evaluated in the context of metabolic syndrome. Pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome, similar to pathogenesis of depression, is complex and insufficiently investigated. However, it is considered that the interactions of chronic stress, psychological trauma, hypercortisolism and disturbed immunologic functions contribute to the development of these disturbances [1-6].Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a complex multisystem disturbance, consisting of several components, namely: abdominal obesity, lipid metabolism dysfunction, hypertension and glucose metabolism dysfunction [7]. Besides that, the syndrome is connected with pro-inflammatory and pro-thrombotic state, resulting from the secretory activity of fat tissue, characterized by an increased level of inflammation mediators, endothelial dysfunction, hyperfibrinogenaemia, increased aggregation of thrombocytes, increased concentration of plasminogen activation inhibitors, increased levels of uric acid and microalbuminuria. MS represents the greatest risk for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. MS was described in patients with polycystic ovaries syndrome, non-alcoholic steatosis of the liver, microalbuminuria and chronic renal failure [7-10].Depression is a complex disease, connected with alterations of sleep, appetite, body weight and level of physical activity, all of which can represent risk factors for the development of metabolic disturbances. In depressive patients, various physiological mechanisms can influence the development of metabolic syndrome, such as disturbed regulation of HHN axis and noradrenergic system, as well as various psycho-social factors, such as gender, age, smoking, stress levels, nutrition and level of physical activity [11-14]. It is possible that MS represents a connection between depression on one and KVB and diabetes on the other side. It is considered that chronic stress causes depression and consequently harmful lifestyle, which can lead to MS and consequently, development of KVB [15]. Disturbed regulation of HHN axis is typically connected to chronic stress and numerous studies had described such connection between depression and high levels of cortysole [16-18]. On the other hand, increased levels of cortysole are connected with components of metabolic syndrome, such as the abdominal obesity and glucose intolerance, so depression can indirectly influence the metabolism of glucose and the risk of diabetes development [19,20]. Besides that, psycho-social variables, such as depressive mood, can result in changes of levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are also important components for the development of metabolic syndrome [21].Based on the research so far, we may say that the depressive patients show a greater incidence of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes compared to the other psychiatric patients and the general population [22-39]. Symptoms of a depressive disturbance are frequently observed among the patients with MS and fatigue is a frequent symptom in states with a chronic activation of non-specific immunity, such as MS [3943].The aim of this study was to determine the psychosocial and clinical features of depressive patients diagnosed with MS. …

Since war activities, the previously mixed population of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, live in segregated parts of the town based on ethnicity. The aim of this study was to examine differences in health risks and health status between populations of the two parts of the town. Health status of 300 randomly selected primary care patients was evaluated by practicing family physicians in two main primary care centers in West and East Mostar. Each group consisted of 150 patients. Data were collected between December 2013 and May 2014. Patients were evaluated for smoking habit, alcohol consumption, body mass index, blood pressure and laboratory measurement of fasting glycemia. Family physicians provided diagnosis of chronic noninfectious diseases (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, malignant disease, depression, and alcoholism). The two groups differed according to age, income, employment status, and rate of alcoholism and hypertension. Alcoholism (OR= 4.105; 95% CI 2.012-8.374) and hypertension (OR=1.972; 95% CI 1.253-3.976) were associated with inhabitants of West Mostar, adjusted for age, employment and income status on logistic regression. In conclusion, ethnic differences between inhabitants of the two parts of the town might influence health outcomes. These are preliminary data and additional studies with larger samples and more specific questions considering nutrition and cultural issues are needed to detect the potential differences between the groups.

Aim: To determine the rural–urban differences in primary care practice, hospital inpatient care and total services. Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from Zenica-Doboj Canton in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH). The overall sample size for the study was 1,995. Individual interviews were conducted in one randomly selected day of the week, except Monday and Friday, on the basis of EUROPEP (European Task Force on Patient Evaluations of General Practice Care) standardized questionnaire. Results: Out of total number (n=1 995), 47.9% was urban population and median of age was 42 years for both populations. The most of urban residents (81.4%) had finished high school or higher education compared with rural residents (58.5%) (p < 0.001). There are significant differences in employment status between rural and urban population (p < 0.001). Rural residents are more likely to travel more than 15 minutes to see their health facilities compared with urban residents (61.7% vs. 24.4%, respectively). Median of distance (kilometers) from residence location to the nearest hospital was statistically significantly higher in rural Me = 8.0 (5.0 do 14.5) km compared to urban population Me = 1.5 (1.0 to 3.0) km (p < 0.001). The rural population was more likely to buy drugs for medical treatment (p < 0.001) and parenteral injections in primary care practice (p < 0.001). Conclusion: There are significant differences in the overall health care assessment of rural populations as compared to urban populations.

BACKGROUND A cross-sectional study in the Primary Care Medical Centre Mostar and Regional Medical Center "Safet Mujić" was conducted. Family physicians randomly surveyed, examined, and analyzed laboratory tests from 300 subjects divided into three age groups from 20-39, 40-54 and 55-65 years, totally 100 subjects. Data for age, sex, smoking status, alcohol consumption, body mass index, blood pressure, blood glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol, and the presence of chronic non-communicable diseases, including diagnosis of depression and the presence of stress were entered in medical records. RESULTS Levels of cholesterol were significantly higher in rural population as well as among students, and high triglyceride levels most frequently were presented in the student population. A group of farmers had a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension, DM and CVD compared to other investigated groups. The largest number of smokers and people who drink alcohol was present in group with the highest incomes, while obesity was significantly expressed in people with lower incomes. The group of examinees with the highest incomes had the greatest exposure to stress. CONCLUSIONS Socioeconomic processes have an impact on risk behavior of the adult population, and the presence of a number of chronic diseases that are accompanied with increased laboratory blood glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides levels.