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Biomedical subjects

D S Janowsky

Publications and source records attributed to D S Janowsky.

214 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Atenolol treatment of late luteal phase dysphoric disorder.

Activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system has been hypothesized as a potential pathophysiological factor in premenstrual tension syndrome (PMS). Atenolol is a predominate beta 1-blocker which can decrease plasma renin activity and inhibit the urinary excretion of aldosterone. Sixteen women meeting provisional diagnoses of late luteal phase dysphoric disorder were treated for symptoms of PMS with atenolol (50 mg once daily) in a randomized placebo-crossover double-blind design. The data indicated significant improvements on the irritability, vigor, elation, and friendliness scores in response to atenolol compared to placebo. Significant changes were not found for several other ratings scales, indicating that atenolol improved only selected symptoms in the group as a whole. However, the women who had premenstrual tension symptoms for more than 5 years (n = 8) were improved on most of the rating scales. Atenolol decreased premenstrual plasma aldosterone to a limited extent. There was also a trend in the data toward higher luteal progesterone levels during the month subjects took atenolol. Plasma renin activity and aldosterone correlated with estrogen and progesterone levels during the placebo month but not during the active month.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Correlated cholinomimetic-stimulated beta-endorphin and prolactin release in humans.

Previous studies, both in animals and humans, have demonstrated that the intravenous or intraventricular administration of endogenous opioids and opiates produce dose dependent increases in plasma concentrations of prolactin. Notably, in humans, intravenous infusion of centrally active cholinomimetic drugs, such as physostigmine or arecoline, may produce significant increases in plasma concentrations of prolactin and beta-endorphin immunoreactivity. In three separate studies, conducted collaboratively between the National Institute of Mental Health and the University of California at San Diego, physostigmine and arecoline associated increases in plasma concentrations of beta-endorphin immunoreactivity were highly correlated with increases in plasma prolactin concentrations. These results are of interest because centrally active cholinomimetic drugs have been variously reported either to have no effect, to increase, or to inhibit anterior pituitary prolactin release. We propose that cholinergic stimulation of hypothalamic beta-endorphin may represent an interesting example of peptidergic modulation of primary neurochemical effects on hypothalamic-pituitary hormonal regulation.

Endorphins↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal regulation, neurotransmitters and affective disorders.

Considerable evidence has accumulated indicating that alterations in neurotransmitters may play a role in the etiology of affective disorders on the one hand, and in the regulation of the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (LHPA) on the other. Acetylcholine, norepinephrine, serotonin, GABA, the opioid polypeptides and dopamine have all been implicated in both phenomena. Although some contradictory evidence exists, norepinephrine, opioids, and GABA appear inhibitory, and serotonin and acetylcholine appear excitatory of the LHPA axis. In a correlative study, non-suppression of cortisol by dexamethasone correlated positively and significantly with methylphenidate-induced euphoric and antidepressant responses, and methadone induced growth hormone responses, possibly suggesting catecholamine and opioid receptor hypersensitivity. Although the overall effects of the cholinomimetic, physostigmine, did not correlate with dexamethasone non-suppression, strong positive correlations were found in a subgroup, consisting of affective disorder patients, between non-suppression of cortisol by dexamethasone and the physostigmine response, suggesting cholinergic hypersensitivity in the non-suppressing subjects.

Alcoholism↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Muscarinic supersensitivity of anterior pituitary ACTH and B-endorphin release in major depressive illness.

Subjects with major depressive illness had greater increases in plasma concentrations of ACTH and B-endorphin immunoreactivity in response to central muscarinic stimulation by physostigmine, than did normal control subjects, or psychiatric control subjects without major depressive illness. These findings provide further evidence for muscarinic receptor supersensitivity in depression and may implicate an abnormality of peptide physiology in the pathogenesis of depression.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Psychological aspects of premenstrual syndrome. I: Cognition and memory.

Fourteen women with PMS and ten without PMS were evaluated with a battery of neuropsychological tests during the follicular and late luteal phases of two consecutive menstrual cycles. Classification was determined with NIMH diagnostic criteria and prospective record keeping. The results indicated that (1) the PMS women had significant difficulty in learning new material and this problem was not phase-dependent, (2) both groups performed better on a test of frontal lobe function during the follicular phase, and (3) mood did not account for any of the differences in cognitive functioning.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Naloxone augments electrophysiological signs of selective attention in man.

Previous research on the behavioural functions of endogenous opioid systems in rodents suggested a possible opioid role in the regulation of attention. This proposal was consistent with reports that opiate administration in man impairs the ability to concentrate while opiate antagonists augment behavioural and electrophysiological indices of arousal and attention. We examined the effects of the opiate antagonist naloxone on electrophysiological measures of attention in normal human subjects, using a paradigm which dissociates selective information processing from concurrent processes of general arousal or alertness that may be present. We now report electrophysiological evidence that naloxone improves the selectivity of auditory attention in the presence of competing sources of stimuli. These findings indicate a role for the endogenous opioid systems in the regulation of selective attention in man.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Personality and alcohol/substance-use disorder patient relapse and attendance at self-help group meetings.

This study evaluated the role of personality in the short-term outcome of alcohol/substance-use disorder patients. Detoxifying alcohol/substance-use disorder patients were administered the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ), the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (MAST), the CAGE Questionnaire, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). These patients were subsequently evaluated over a 1-month period for relapse and attendance at self-help group meetings. High TPQ Persistence scale scores predicted abstinence. When the Thinking and Feeling groups were considered separately, and when these two groups were combined into a single group, high scores for the individual groups and the combined group (i.e. Thinking and Feeling types together) predicted abstinence. High TPQ Persistence scale scores and low Shyness with Strangers and Fear of Uncertainty subscale scores predicted attendance at self-help group meetings. High MBTI Extroversion and high MBTI Thinking scores also predicted attendance at self-help group meetings. When the Extroverted and Introverted types and the Thinking and Feeling types respectively were combined, as with abstinence, high scores predicted attendance at self-help group meetings. Age, gender, CAGE, MAST, and BDI scores did not predict outcome. The above information suggests that specific personality variables may predict abstinence and attendance at self-help group meetings in recently detoxified alcoholics, and this may have prognostic and therapeutic significance.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Underlying personality differences between alcohol/substance-use disorder patients with and without an affective disorder.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a popular personality test, was used to profile the personalities of in-patient alcoholics/substance-use disorder patients who had, and those who did not have, a concurrent affective disorder diagnosis. The MBTI divides individuals into eight categories: Extroverts and Introverts, Sensors and Intuitives, Thinkers and Feelers, and Judgers and Perceivers. Alcohol/substance-use disorder patients with no affective disorder differed from a normative population only in being significantly more often Sensing and significantly less often Intuitive single-factor types. The Extroverted/Sensing/ Feeling/Judging four-factor type was also significantly over-represented in this group, compared to a normative population. In contrast, mood-disordered alcohol/substance-use disorder patients were significantly more often Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving and significantly less often Extroverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Judging single-factor types. They were also significantly more often Introverted/Sensing/ Feeling/Perceiving and Introverted/Intuitive/Feeling/Perceiving four-factor types. 'Pure' alcohol/ substance-use disorder patients differed from alcohol/substance-use disorder patients with a mood disorder in that they were significantly more often Extroverted and Thinking and significantly less often Introverted and Feeling single-factor types; and significantly less often were an Introverted/Sensing/ Feeling/Perceiving four-factor type. The above results may have psychogenetic, diagnostic, and psychotherapeutic implications.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Association between preference for sweets and excessive alcohol intake: a review of animal and human studies.

This report reviews a series of studies demonstrating a relationship between the consumption of sweets and alcohol consumption. There is consistent evidence linking the consumption of sweets to alcohol intake in both animals and humans, and there are indications that this relationship may be at least partially genetic in nature. Alcohol-preferring rats have a tendency to consume sucrose and saccharin solutions far beyond the limits of their normal fluid intake and this has been proposed to be a model of the clinical phenomenon known as loss of control. Furthermore, rats and mice, genetically bred to prefer alcohol, tend to choose more concentrated sweet solutions, compared to animals which do not prefer alcohol. Similar tendencies to prefer ultra-sweet solutions have been noted in studies of alcoholic subjects, with most alcoholics preferring sweeter sucrose solutions than do controls. Evidence also exists that those alcoholics who prefer sweeter solutions may represent a familial form of alcoholism. Finally, consumption of sweets and/or sweet solutions may significantly suppress alcohol intake in both animals and in alcoholics. Carbohydrate structure and sweet taste may contribute to this effect through different physiological mechanisms involving serotonergic, opioid, and dopaminergic functions. The possibility that there is concordance between sweet liking and alcohol consumption and/or alcoholism has theoretical, biological, and diagnostic/practical implications.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Enhanced affective aggression in genetically bred hypercholinergic rats.

Affective aggression was studied in pairs of Flinders Sensitive Line hypercholinergic rats (FSL) and Flinders Resistant Line (FRL) rats in shock-induced and apomorphine-induced fighting tests. FSL rats were significantly more aggressive in both tests. They had higher pain threshold, assessed by the jump-flinch method, than FRL rats. It is concluded that genetically developed cholinergic system supersensitivity has resulted in enhanced responsiveness to stimuli eliciting affective aggression.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Central cardiovascular effects of physostigmine in humans.

Central cholinergic control of pulse rate and blood pressure has seldom been studied in humans. In the current study we contrasted the cardiovascular effects of the centrally acting cholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine, which increases central and peripheral acetylcholine levels, with those of saline placebo and with those of the non-centrally acting cholinesterase inhibitor neostigmine, which only increases peripheral acetylcholine levels. We found that physostigmine, in contrast to neostigmine and saline, caused significant and often profound increases in pulse rate and blood pressure levels in humans. Thus, we conclude that acetylcholine may have a role in central cardiovascular regulation in humans. We also found that administration of physostigmine may cause net increases in pulse of up to 74 beats/minute, systolic blood pressure increases of up to 50 mm Hg, and diastolic increases of up to 45 mm Hg. Such increases could be dangerous in elderly patients with concomitant cerebrovascular or coronary circulation disorders.

Adult↗