Biomedical subjects

A Lucca

Publications and source records attributed to A Lucca.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1990

Amino acid patterns in schizophrenia: some new findings.

Blood concentrations of various amino acids were measured in schizophrenic patients and control subjects. Significantly higher blood concentrations of glycine, glutamate, and serine were found in the schizophrenic patients. Glycine was abnormally elevated in subjects with paranoid or undifferentiated schizophrenia, but not in disorganized patients. Since glutamate, glycine, and serine play a complex role in the regulation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, which are important in the control of normal cognitive processes, we hypothesized that the elevated levels of these amino acids might disrupt the normal functioning of NMDA receptors and might be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1988

Effect of lithium treatment on the GH-clonidine test in affective disorders.

The effects of short-term lithium (Li) administration on alpha 2-adrenoceptor sensitivity was studied in 10 healthy volunteers and in 15 patients with normothymic, phasic depressive disorders. The GH-clonidine test was used to examine alpha 2-adrenoceptor sensitivity, administered before and after Li treatment (600 mg/day for 7 days in controls and for 15 days in patients). Before treatment, the GH response to clonidine in the patients was blunted, and afterwards it tended to increase in the patients and it was significantly decreased in the controls. The difference between the response in the two groups was significant and was correlated both with the diagnosis and the pretreatment GH response to the stimulus. The opposing pattern of the response in patients and controls to Li administration suggests that the drug exerts a modulatory effect on alpha 2-adrenoceptor sensitivity, with up or down regulation inversely correlated with pretreatment status.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1987

Increased concentrations of various amino acids in schizophrenic patients. Evidence for heterozygosity effects?

The hypothesis is examined that heterozygosity for amino acid disorders (AAD) is a genetic component of susceptibility for schizophrenic psychoses. To detect possible heterozygotes, urinary and blood amino acid levels were analyzed in a sample of subjects with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and in their biological parents and compared with those of a sample of healthy volunteers. The results showed increased blood and urinary levels of certain amino acid in those patients who have at least one parent with the same amino acid abnormality. This finding points to the possibility of heterozygosity for AAD in schizophrenic patients.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1987

Red blood cell plasma Li ratio variability in affective patients.

In the light of the existence of controversial reports on the stability of Li ratio, we investigated a group of affective patients wishing to verify intraindividual stability of this parameter in the different phases of the disease, that is normothymia and manic and depressive episodes. We found lower Li ratios for the periods preceding any relapse. Further, we analyzed whether or not some epidemiological factors, such as polarity, sex, actual age, age of onset, might affect interindividual variability of the Li ratio. We found that they did not as single factors. Interaction between polarity and the presence of relapses appeared to significantly affect the Li ratio.

Adult↗

PubMed1986