Psychiatric morbidity was studied in a sample of 176 opioid-dependent men recruited from prison and treatment services. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) was used for psychiatric assessment. Lifetime and current prevalence of any mental disorder, excluding substance use disorders, reached 90.3% and 66.1%, respectively. The most prominent lifetime DSM-III axis I disorders were anxiety (31.8% lifetime and 16.5% last month) and affective (25% lifetime and 19.9% last month) disorders. Antisocial personality disorder (ASP) had a lifetime prevalence of 69.3%. Higher rates of affective and anxiety disorders were diagnosed in the treatment sample than in the imprisoned sample, whereas the inverse was observed for ASP. Results from the psychiatric interview showing a strong association between drug--opiate--dependence and DSM-III mental disorders are further supported by findings of high levels of depressive symptoms on the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale (71.5%) and increased rates of self-reported suicide attempts (27.4%) and psychiatric hospitalizations (26.8%). Psychiatric disorders seem to precede drug dependence in the majority of cases. Results from this study are compared and discussed with those from similar North American Studies.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Expression of the glucocorticoid receptor in early and late passage C-6 glioma cells and in normal astrocytes derived from aged mouse cerebral hemispheres.

The presence of the glucocorticoid receptor in early and late passage C-6 glioma cells 2B clone and in astrocytes derived from aged mouse cerebral hemispheres has been documented by immunoblotting and/or immunofluorescence labelling. All cell types studied express the glucocorticoid receptor of molecular weight 97 KDa. In addition, in astrocytes derived from aged mouse cerebral hemispheres a smaller molecular weight polypeptide reacting with anti-glucocorticoid receptor antibody was also demonstrated. No difference in the amount of the 97 KDa glucocorticoid receptor between early and late C-6 2B cells was observed, whereas the astrocytes from aged cerebral hemispheres contained considerably reduced amounts of the glucocorticoid receptor compared to C-6 2B cells. Late passage C-6 2B cells were immunofluorescence labelled with the anti-glucocorticoid antibody, the receptor being almost exclusively present in the cytoplasm, with particular concentration in the perinuclear region. The presence of glucocorticoid receptor of molecular weight 97 KDa in glial cells corroborates and expands the existing data based on radioligand binding and immunocytochemical studies. These cell populations can be exploited as a model system for the study of the effects of glucocorticoids on senescence and brain aging.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical homogeneity of DSM-IV schizophrenic disorders.

We investigated the lifetime fulfillment of five subcriteria of diagnostic criterion A in 94 inpatients with a definite diagnosis of DSM-IV schizophrenic disorder. Among the five diagnostic features captured by criterion A, only delusions were found to be almost universal, whereas of the remaining four, only hallucinations and negative symptoms occurred in more than half of all the cases. Overall, almost 60% of the 28 possible patterns of combination among the five subcriteria were found to be fulfilled although 60% of the cases were accounted for by only 4 patterns, which were also identified by means of a cluster analysis, as accounting for the totality of the cases. The first cluster was characterized by the fulfillment of subcriteria 1,2 and 5, the second by subcriteria 1 and 2, the third by subcriteria 1 and 5 and the fourth by subcriteria 1,2, and 3. The substantial clinical heterogeneity of the DSM-IV category of schizophrenic disorders with respect to their diagnostically characteristic features captured in criterion A is traced to the polythetic character of its five subcriteria.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Medication response to ECT-resistant melancholic patients.

During an ongoing study on potential neurochemical and neuroendocrine predictors of recovery after ECT, it was observed that depressed patients with unfavorable response to ECT, improved consequently with antidepressants alone or in combination and in some cases with the addition of neuroleptics or lithium salts. 13 female depressed patients with melancholia (DSM-III criteria), who had proven resistant to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and showed marked improvement with subsequent psychopharmacologic regimens, are described. In not less than 2 months after the last ECT, remission was achieved with a heterocyclic antidepressant (HCA) alone (3 patients) combined infusion of chlorimipramine and maprotiline (3 patients) combined HCAs-antipsychotics (4 patients) and HCAs in combination with lithium (3 patients). It is worth noting that certain depressed patients improved markedly with drugs which had poor results at the same doses before ECT. Confirmation of these observations by prospective studies would provide novel therapeutic capabilities and clues about the mode of action of this controversial treatment.

Antidepressive Agents↗