PMID- 29803101
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20190108
LR  - 20190108
IS  - 1573-2517 (Electronic)
IS  - 0165-0327 (Linking)
VI  - 237
DP  - 2018 Sep
TI  - High altitude with monotonous environment has significant impact on mood and 
      cognitive performance of acclimatized lowlanders: Possible role of altered serum 
      BDNF and plasma homocysteine level.
PG  - 94-103
LID - S0165-0327(17)32685-X [pii]
LID - 10.1016/j.jad.2018.04.106 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Monotony resulting due to the wilderness, sparse population and 
      isolation from society could adversely affect human physiology and cause mood 
      alterations. Thus, observations need to be conducted in order to elucidate the 
      possible role of circulating biomarkers in inducing altered mood and cognitive 
      performance following prolonged exposure to high altitude (HA) with persistent 
      monotonous environment. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed towards investigating 
      the impact of monotonous environment in remote HA on mood and cognitive 
      performance of human volunteers and its correlation with serum brain derived 
      neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and plasma homocysteine level. METHODS: The present 
      study was conducted on male lowlander participants who had normal social life 
      prior to induction in HA environment. Baseline data was acquired at altitude 
      </=240 m mean sea level (MSL). Thereafter, the participants were inducted to an 
      altitude of 4500-4800 m MSL. After acclimatization to HA, the participants were 
      assigned as acclimatized low landers (ALL). Longitudinal follow up was conducted 
      after 8 months of high altitude induction on acclimatized low landers (8ALL). 
      Further, to study the effect of monotony, the participants were randomly assigned 
      into different group sizes during their further stay of 4 months in HA viz. </=5 
      (12ALL </= 5) and >/=10 (12ALL >/= 10). Mood and cognitive performance of the 
      participants were assessed by standard self-administered questionnaires. Serum 
      BDNF and plasma homocysteine were estimated and their correlation with mood and 
      cognition were determined. RESULTS: The findings showed significantly low serum 
      BDNF in 12ALL </= 5 group when compared to baseline, 8ALL and 12AL >/= 10 groups. 
      Alleviated serum BDNF was associated with increased prevalence of mood 
      alterations in HA with persistent monotonous environment. Participants of 
      12ALL >/= 10 group showed significantly higher cognitive performance as compared to 
      12ALL </= 5 group which was associated with reduced plasma homocysteine level. 
      LIMITATIONS: Total registered volunteers during baseline study were not available 
      during the entire period of this study. The second limitation was exclusion of 
      participants with medical history of severe head injuries, chronic diseases in 
      family and extreme baseline serum profile. Third limitation of the study was to 
      exclude the participants detected with MCI after 8 months of HA induction for 
      negating the role of hypobaric hypoxia on mood and cognition. CONCLUSION: The 
      study advocated that ALLs of 12ALL </= 5 group have increased prevalence of 
      depressive trait and cognitive impairment which was correlated with reduced serum 
      BDNF and augmented plasma homocysteine level as compared to participants of 
      12ALL >/= 10 group having better social interaction with improved cognition and 
      mood. The basic findings of the present study revealed that prolonged HA stay 
      after physiological acclimatization should be regulated by proper social 
      interaction involving normal group size to avoid detrimental effect of monotony 
      and its significant impact on circulatory biomarkers.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
FAU - Das, Saroj Kumar
AU  - Das SK
AD  - Defence Institute of High Altitude Research, DRDO, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
FAU - Dhar, Priyanka
AU  - Dhar P
AD  - Defence Institute of High Altitude Research, DRDO, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
FAU - Sharma, Vijay Kumar
AU  - Sharma VK
AD  - Defence Institute of High Altitude Research, DRDO, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
FAU - Barhwal, Kalpana
AU  - Barhwal K
AD  - Defence Institute of High Altitude Research, DRDO, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
FAU - Hota, Sunil Kumar
AU  - Hota SK
AD  - Defence Institute of High Altitude Research, DRDO, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
FAU - Norboo, Tsering
AU  - Norboo T
AD  - Ladakh Institute of Prevention, Dambuchan, Leh-Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
FAU - Singh, Shashi Bala
AU  - Singh SB
AD  - Defence Research and Development Organization, Rajaji Marg, New Delhi, India. 
      Electronic address: drshashisingh@gmail.com.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20180425
PL  - Netherlands
TA  - J Affect Disord
JT  - Journal of affective disorders
JID - 7906073
RN  - 0 (Biomarkers)
RN  - 0 (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor)
RN  - 0LVT1QZ0BA (Homocysteine)
RN  - 7171WSG8A2 (BDNF protein, human)
SB  - IM
MH  - *Acclimatization
MH  - Adult
MH  - *Altitude
MH  - Biomarkers/blood
MH  - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/*blood
MH  - Cognition Disorders/*blood/psychology
MH  - *Environment
MH  - Homocysteine/*blood
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Mood Disorders/*blood/psychology
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Cognition
OT  - High altitude
OT  - Monotony
OT  - Mood
OT  - Plasma homocysteine
OT  - Serum BDNF
EDAT- 2018/05/29 06:00
MHDA- 2019/01/09 06:00
CRDT- 2018/05/27 06:00
PHST- 2017/12/23 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2018/03/15 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2018/04/08 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2018/05/29 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2019/01/09 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2018/05/27 06:00 [entrez]
AID - S0165-0327(17)32685-X [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.jad.2018.04.106 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Affect Disord. 2018 Sep;237:94-103. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.04.106. Epub 2018 
      Apr 25.