Risperidone treatment for a patient suffering from schizophrenia and IDDM.
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Adult↗
Biomedical subjects
A Elizur
Publications and source records attributed to A Elizur.
Forensic psychiatric service in Israel: ten years experience in an in-patient hospital unit.
In 1991 legislators revised the Mental Health Act in Israel, placing responsibility for forensic psychiatric evaluations with the district psychiatrist. The aim of the present paper is to describe the changing patterns of the forensic service in Israel's largest psychiatric hospital in the light of changing legislation. In the last 15 years a psychiatric forensic team provided evaluations both in an ambulatory clinic and a special in-patient ward. All medical records of subjects referred for forensic evaluations between 1982-1992 were re-examined. Demographic, forensic and psychiatric data were recorded. During this period the service experience a 15% increase in the number of evaluations. The team tended to prefer ambulatory evaluations. During the latter part of the period studied more referrals were with a previous criminal record and less with a history of mental disorders. An increase in drug and sex crimes was noted with a corresponding decrease in property and financial offences.
Adolescent↗
First night effect in depression: new data and a new approach.
Polysomnography was performed in 20 depressed patients and 8 normal controls for 2 consecutive nights. A subset of patients had 3 consecutive nights. Patients were assigned to groups according to the presence (group I) or absence (group II) of a first night effect (REM sleep latency on the first night in the laboratory was at least 30 min longer than on the second night). The groups were equivalent with regard to gender distribution, age, and severity of depression. In group I, REM sleep latency on nights 2 and 3 was significantly shorter than in group II. REM sleep percentage on the second night in group I was increased compared to the first night. A shift of REM sleep to the first cycle was prominent on the first night only in patients with a first night effect. On average, delta sleep was preserved in group I compared to group II. We suggest that the first night effect reflects a physiological system with greater capacity to respond adaptively and to preserve homeostasis when confronted with environmental stressors.
Adult↗
REM sleep in depressed patients: different attempts to achieve adaptation.
Twenty-seven depressed patients and 10 healthy subjects were investigated in the sleep laboratory during two to three consecutive nights. Eleven of the 27 patients demonstrated the "first night effect" (group I) and 11 other patients demonstrated a clear absence of the "first night effect" (group II). Five of the 27 depressed patients were omitted from the study because they did not fit criteria for first night effect. The 10 healthy controls demonstrated a first night effect. In group I, the duration of the first rapid eye movement (REM) sleep episode was increased on the first night and on the second night the REM sleep latency was decreased, whereas REM sleep duration and eye movement (EM) density was increased. The number of the short sleep cycles (less than 40 minutes) was greater in group I versus group II and the percentage of slow-wave sleep (SWS) was also higher in group I. In depressed patients with the "first night effect" the enhanced REM sleep requirement is satisfied not only by an increased REM sleep duration but also by the improved REM sleep quality that is crucial for adaptation. The adaptive role of the increased first REM period and the increased EM density in this period is very limited.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Preovulatory changes in the levels of three gonadotropin-releasing hormone-encoding messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNAs), gonadotropin beta-subunit mRNAs, plasma gonadotropin, and steroids in the female gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata.
Gilthead seabream females undergo daily cycles of final oocyte maturation (FOM), ovulation, and spawning throughout their spawning season. FOM consists of lipid droplet and yolk granule coalescence, germinal vesicle (GV) migration, and GV breakdown. Plasma maturational gonadotropin (GtH-II) levels fluctuate throughout the day, reaching a peak at 8 h before spawning, when the GV is at the periphery of the oocyte. The preovulatory GtH-II surge is accompanied by an increase in the plasma levels of 17alpha,20beta-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one and estradiol, while testosterone and 17alpha,20beta,21-trihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one levels remain unchanged. Concurrent with the preovulatory GtH-II surge, there is an increase in pituitary GtH-II beta subunit mRNA levels followed by an increase in GtH-Ibeta mRNA levels. Gilthead seabream brain contains three different forms of GnRH: salmon (s)GnRH, seabream (sb)GnRH, and chicken (c)GnRH-II. All three GnRH-encoding mRNAs fluctuate throughout the day, reaching highest levels 8 h before spawning, concurrent with the preovulatory GtH-II surge. On the basis of these correlations and of the anatomical organization of the three GnRH systems, it is hypothesized that in the daily-spawning gilthead seabream females, preovulatory GtH-II secretion, and probably synthesis, are induced by a surge of sbGnRH secretion. The involvement of the other two GnRH forms, sGnRH and cGnRH-II, in the control of ovulation and spawning is presumed, on the basis of the elevation of their mRNA levels at the time of the preovulatory GtH-II secretion and spawning.
Animals↗
Partial eating disorders in a community sample of female adolescents.
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the validity of two definitions of partial eating disorders, the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and a combination of the EAT and relevant criteria of the DSM-III-R, and to examine their association with factors related to anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. METHOD: Questionnaires on eating behaviors, depression, obsessionality, and impulsivity were distributed to 534 female high school students. Demographic, psychosocial, and physical parameters and the subjects' height and weight were also recorded. RESULTS: EAT scores revealed maladaptive behaviors in 18% of the subjects: the combination of the EAT and DSM-III-R criteria identified 20.8% of the subjects as having partial anorexia nervosa and 11.3% as having partial bulimia nervosa. Both definitions were significantly associated with risk factors for clinical eating disorders: high weight, weight fluctuations, dieting, menstrual disturbances, high level of depression and obsessionality, and preoccupation with eating in the family. Partial bulimics fared worse on most of these parameters. Partial anorectics were not more psychologically distressed than normal subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The validity of both definitions of partial eating disorders is supported by their similar and significant associations with known risk factors for the development of the clinical syndromes. Partial bulimics are similar to patients with bulimia nervosa in the level of many eating-related disturbances and in depression, obsessionality, and impulsivity. Partial anorectics, like anorectic patients in clinical settings, tend to minimize their problems. The relevance of partial eating disorders to the later development of the full-blown clinical entity is still not established.
Adolescent↗
Voting by Israeli patients.
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Choice Behavior↗
Hospitalized mentally ill patients in Israel vote for the first time.
For the first time in Israel, hospitalized mentally ill patients were enabled to participate in the election of the prime minister and members of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) held on May 29, 1996. In a demonstration election held in Yehuda Abarbanel Hospital to teach and prepare the patients to vote, the outcome of the vote for the prime minister was identical to the results of the general public vote. The sample vote results for members of the Knesset were slightly different from those in the actual election. The character of the voting in this sample bolsters arguments for the rights of mentally ill individuals to participate in the basic democratic process of voting and should ease any misgivings felt by some of the public about their ability to vote as rationally as other members of the public.
Humans↗
The views of psychiatric patients and their treating physicians of court-ordered compulsory hospitalization for criminal acts.
The legal responsibility for the mentally ill has long been a dilemma. Public opinion regarding the law which states that the mentally ill, in a psychotic state, are not responsible for their actions, is divided. The study assessed 30 psychiatric patients, committed by court order, following a criminal act on their part. No relationship was found between the nature of their offense and a psychiatric disorder. Patients who committed more serious crimes, such as murder, tended to have committed fewer criminal acts in the past. Sixty-nine percent of the patients think that the mentally ill are not responsible for their actions and 59% agreed with the judge's decision to hospitalize them. On a concrete level, over two-thirds of the patients were able to distinguish right from wrong. The treating physicians related mainly to the patients' illnesses rather than to the crimes for which they were committed.
Adult↗
Insight and competence to consent to psychiatric hospitalization.
Informed consent and insight are among the most important issues in medical treatment, especially for psychiatric patients. In this study, we examined the competence to consent to psychiatric hospitalization of 113 psychiatric patients who were voluntarily admitted to a mental hospital in various psychotic states and compared it with their insight. We found a significant correlation between the patients' competence and insight into their illnesses. There is a discussion of the problematic issues of informed consent, competence and psychosis and the importance of insight in the context of mental illness.
Adult↗
Gonadotropins beta-GtHI and beta-GtHII from the gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata.
Full-length cDNA sequences encoding the beta-subunits of the gonadotrophins GtHI and GtHII were isolated, cloned, and sequenced from a single gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) pituitary using RACE PCR. Beta-GtHI and beta-GtHII degenerate PCR primers were designed according to regions of high amino acid sequence homology between the chum salmon and the bonito beta-GtHI or beta-GtHII. DNA sequence analysis of the cloned PCR products confirmed the presence of the predicted complete coding region as well as 5' and 3' untranslated sequences. The deduced amino acid sequences of beta-GtHI and beta-GtHII from the gilthead seabream were compared to GtH sequences from a number of teleosts. Seabream beta-GtHI shows the highest homology to the bonito beta-GtHI (76%) and the striped bass (74%), while seabream beta-GtHII is 98% homologous to the yellow fin porgy, 87% homologous to the bonito, and 93% homologous to the striped bass beta-GtHII. Northern blot analysis showed the transcripts of the gilthead seabream beta-GtHI and beta-GtHII to be about 700 and 740 bases, respectively. During the spawning season, beta-GtHI is expressed at higher levels in males than in females while beta-GtHII is expressed at similar levels in both sexes.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Inositol treatment of Alzheimer's disease: a double blind, cross-over placebo controlled trial.
1. A double-blind controlled crossover trial of 6 gm of inositol daily vs glucose for one month each was carried out in 11 Alzheimer patients. 2. Overall CAMCOG scores showed a trend for greater improvement with inositol that was not significant. 3. Language and orientation improved significantly more on inositol than on placebo. There were no serious side effects. 4. Higher doses of inositol should be studied in Alzheimer's Disease for longer periods.
Aged↗
The impact of the Gulf War on the mental health of schizophrenic patients.
The Gulf War, which took place during January-February 1991, strongly affected the lives of Israeli civilians. The missiles that landed on the home front were a threat to the entire civilian population, thus differentiating the Gulf War from prior Israeli wars (Danon and Shemer 1991). This was similar to the London blitz during World War II (Scoville 1942).
Acute Disease↗
Age distribution among patients at high risk for human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type I infection.
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Adolescent↗
Three forms of gonadotropin-releasing hormone in a perciform fish (Sparus aurata): complementary deoxyribonucleic acid characterization and brain localization.
Three forms of GnRH-salmon (sGnRH), seabream (sb-GnRH), and chicken (cGnRH-II)-have been described in the gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) brain, and the cDNA encoding the sbGnRH precursor was recently isolated. In the present study, the cDNAs encoding the sGnRH and cGnRH-II were isolated and characterized, and the neurons producing the three GnRHs were localized in the seabream brain. Fragments of sGnRH and cGnRH-II cDNAs were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and used as probes to isolate the full-length cDNAs from a brain cDNA library. The cDNA encoding the cGnRH-II precursor is 573 nucleotides (nt) long, and the cDNA encoding the sGnRH precursor is 1971 nt in length with an unusually long 5' untranslated region. Specific single-strand DNA probes for in situ detection of mRNA were designed according to nonconserved regions among the three GnRH c-DNAs. Localization of GnRH mRNA-producing cells in the brain revealed five distinct populations of cells: sGnRH-producing cells in the ventromedial olfactory bulbs and the terminal nerve, sbGnRH-producing cells in the preoptic area and the ventral thalamus, and cGnRH-II-producing cells in the midbrain tegmentum. The discrete sites of expression of the three forms of GnRH indicate that only sbGnRH is directly involved in the control of gonadotropin secretion.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Brainstem auditory evoked potentials of panic disorder patients.
Panic attacks are subjectively reported by patients as a cluster of autonomic nervous symptoms. Taken together with the evidence from pharmacological studies focusing on the locus ceruleus and the dorsal raphe nuclei, the hypothesis of brainstem involvement in panic attacks is of major interest. Functional evaluation of the brainstem is carried out using electrophysiological recordings, such as the brainstem evoked potentials. We have investigated the pathophysiology of these parameters in 16 patients fulfilling the DSM III-R criteria for panic disorder (8 females and 8 males) in comparison to a group of 10 normal controls. The patients were found to have two electrophysiological variables significantly different from controls: (a) N3 latency tme was reduced (p < 0.05) and (b) the N3-5 interval was prolonged (p < 0.05). The N3 latency period significantly correlated with the Hamilton Anxiety Scale scores (p < 0.005). N3 is a peak reflecting pontine activation, where the locus ceruleus is located. The N3-5 interval reflects evoked potential passage from the pons to the midbrain. In conclusion, our results support previous studies indicating a dysfunction of the locus ceruleus possibly causing disruption of pons-midbrain transmission in patients suffering from panic disorder.
Adult↗
Differential effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone, dopamine and somatostatin and their second messengers on the mRNA levels of gonadotropin II beta subunit and growth hormone in the teleost fish, tilapia.
In cultured pituitary cells of tilapia, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH; 10 nM 4-24 h), elevation of cyclic AMP (by 10 microM forskolin or 0.2 mM 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine: IBMX 0.5-36 h) or activation of protein kinase C (PKC; by 12.5 nM tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate: TPA, 0.5-24 h) all increased gonadotropin (GtH) II beta steady state mRNA levels by three to four-fold. The involvement of PKA and PKC in the GnRH stimulatory effect on both GtH release and GtH II beta mRNA levels was corroborated by use of the PKA and PKC inhibitors, H89 and GF109203X, respectively (100 nM) which attenuated the GnRH effect. Incubation with actinomycin D (8 microM, 4-21 h) after preexposure for 24 h to either forskolin (10 microM) or TPA (12.5 nM), revealed that rates of transcript degradation were slower in forskolin-treated cells (T 1/2 = 14.1 h) than in control or TPA-treated cells (T 1/2 = 8.47 or 8.38 h), suggesting a stabilizing effect on the mRNA. Dopamine (DA; 10 microM, 4-36 h) had no apparent effect on steady state mRNA levels of GtH II beta, but reduced GtH release by as much as 75%. Steady state levels of growth hormone (GH) mRNA were not affected by exposure to GnRH (10 nM, 4-24 h), although GH release was more than doubled. Similarly, activation of PKC (by TPA 12.5 nM, 1.5-36 h), which was shown to be essential for the GnRH-stimulatory effect on GH release, did not alter levels of the GH transcript, but increased GH release by more than fivefold. DA (10 microM, 4-24 h) moderately increased GH transcript levels (160%) with similar kinetics but lower potency than direct elevation of cAMP (by 10 microM forskolin or 0.2 mM IBMX, 0.5-36 h) which increased transcript levels by more than fourfold. The involvement of PKA in the DA effect was confirmed when the PKA inhibitor H89 (100 nM, 15 min prior to DA exposure) attenuated the DA effect on GH mRNA levels. Exposure of cells to actinomycin D (8 microM, 2-16 h) after treatment with forskolin (10 microM, 24 h) led to a slower rate of transcript degradation than in control cells (T 1/2 = 6.5 h vs. T 1/2 = 4.36 h), suggesting that cAMP also elicits a stabilizing effect on GH mRNA. Somatostatin (100 nM, 0.5-36 h) had no clear effect on GH transcript levels, but reduced GH release by as much as 90%. These results suggest that activation of either cAMP-PKA or PKC pathways can, possibly by different mechanisms, stimulate mRNA levels of the GtH II beta gene, but that only the cAMP-PKA pathway stimulates GH mRNA levels. It would appear therefore that GnRH, although stimulating GH release, does not regulate GH transcription in this fish.
Animals↗
Circannual pattern of autistic births: reanalysis in three ethnic groups.
Seasonal variations in births of autistic subjects have been reported for the United States, Canada, Sweden, Japan, and Israel. Here, data from England, Japan, and Israel are reanalyzed using spectral analysis for the cosine function. A sample of 583 autistic births occurring over 40 years (1947-1989) is meta-analyzed, focusing on rhythmicity. Major periodicities of 17.6, 18.6, and 21.8 years, on which minor periodicities ranging from 2.2 to 4.1 years were superimposed, yielded the best-fitting cosine function to significantly explain variance of autistic birth patterns. It is interesting that the function composed of a major period with several minor periods is remarkably similar in each of the three ethnic groups. In all three countries the acrophases (calculated function) aggregate in the period 1963-1970. In light of this apparent universality of rhythms in autistic births across continents, we call for further investigations into the role of environmental factors, possibly viral pandemics, in the etiology of autism.
Autistic Disorder↗