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Biomedical subjects

E Zarifian

Publications and source records attributed to E Zarifian.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

Tritiated imipramine binding sites are decreased in platelets of untreated depressed patients.

The high-affinity binding of triatiated imipramine to platelet membranes was compared in samples from 16 untreated depressed women and 21 age-matched controls of the same sex. The maximal binding in the depressed group was significantly lower than that of the controls, although the affinity constants were similar. These results suggest that binding of tritiated imipramine in human platelets may represent a biochemical index of depression, possibly reflecting similar changes in the brain.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Modifications of biochemical parameters in blood platelets of schizophrenic and depressive patients.

The blood platelet may be considered as an interesting model of the serotoninergic neuron in biology and pharmacology. We studied some platelet parameters in neuropsychiatric patients (depressive and schizophrenic ones): serotonin (5-HT) uptake was abnormal for all schizophrenics and lowered for depressive patients; uptake of mepacrine, a marker of 5-HT passive diffusion, was diminished for manic patients; MAO and glutathione peroxidase activities were modified, essentially for paranoid schizophrenics and some alterations of the platelet hydroxyindole level were noticed; during treatment with neuroleptics of antidepressants biological parameters led to 'normality'. These results are discussed with clinical data and a hypothesis is proposed to join the biological modifications of paranoid schizophrenics.

Blood Platelets↗
PubMed1980

[New studies on the use of antidepressants].

The new data on the use of antidepressant drugs concern:--a precise characterization of the therapeutic spectrum of the antidepressant, --the knowledge of the mechanism of action of the drug,--the biochemical profile of the depression,--the pharmacokinetic data about the efficient plasmatic level of the anti-depressant: it is important to take into account the metabolism of the drug and its route of administration,--the discovery of new antidepressants different from tricyclis and I.M.A.O. inhibitors.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1980

[Open study of L-5-H.T.P. in melancholic depressed patients over 50 years of age (author's transl)].

The authors report a trial on the antidepressive activity of L.5-H.T.P. The clinical population is relatively homogeneous; it consists of melancholic patients, aged over 50. The results are inferior to those obtained with other antidepressant therapies. They do not verify that L.5-H.T.P. has an antidepressive action in elderlies. However, the authors do not put aside that L.5-H.T.P. can be interesting in some varieties of depression.

5-Hydroxytryptophan↗
PubMed1980

Preliminary observations of the significance of monitoring tricyclic antidepressant plasma levels in the pediatric patient.

Plasma concentrations of clomipramine and desmethylclomipramine were monitored together with clinical effects over a period of 1--9 months in children and young adolescents (5--19 years of age) receiving clomipramine because of depressive features or enuresis. Data indicate that in the child, clomipramine is rapidly absorbed while its disposition rate is age dependent, as indicated by the significantly lower level:dose ratio (p less than 0.01) observed in the younger groups (5--10; 10--15 years). The incidence of side effects was clearly related to clomipramine plasma concentrations, whereas no relationship could be observed for the desmethyl metabolite. In the case of enuresis, a therapeutic effect was observed at clomipramine concentrations of 20--60 ng/ml, while lower or higher levels were associated with lack of therapeutic effect or adverse effects. No relationship was found between oral daily doses and clomipramine or desmethylclomipramine plasma concentrations. The data point to the usefulness of monitoring drug plasma levels in children undergoing treatment with tricyclic antidepressive drugs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Influence of route of administration on haloperidol plasma levels in psychotic patients.

Haloperidol plasma concentrations were determined in psychotic patients to whom the drug was given by three different routes of administration (i. v. perfusion, intramuscularly and orally). When measured 15 hours after the last administration, a significant difference (p < 0,001) was found in the steady state plasma concentration between the oral and the i.m. route. The values were higher after intramuscular administration and were subject to less interindividual fluctuation than after the oral. The reduction in plasma levels after oral administration in respect to i.m. were in accordance with the bioavailability of haloperidol. The opportunity of switching from oral to intramuscular treatment is discussed.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1979

Clinical significance of monitoring plasma levels of psychotropic drugs.

The possible clinical significance of plasma level monitoring of psychotropic drugs in psychotic patients is described. In particular, data obtained with children and 'resistant' psychotic patients are presented. The results in children indicate the existence of a good relationship between side-effects and haloperidol plasma levels as well as between adverse effects and chlorimipramine plasma levels. Furthermore, an age effect on haloperidol clearance could be shown. Relationship between haloperidol and chlorimipramine concentration and effects could be observed for tics and enuresis respectively but not for psychotic reactions. Data in adult patients illustrate on the one hand possible causes of variability in plasma levels of haloperidol and, on the other hand, the fact that poor bioavailability is not the cause of lack of response in 'resistant' schizophrenic patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Brain distribution and kinetics of 11C-chlorpromazine in schizophrenics: positron emission tomography studies.

The positron emitter 11C (20 minutes half-life) permits the labeling of chlorpromazine (CPZ) and the study of its distribution in humans by external counting. Trace amounts of 11C-CPZ were injected intravenously into 22 schizophrenic patients all untreated for several months with neuroleptics. The brain uptake was 6.04 +/- 1.6% of the injected dose 15 minutes after the injection, and it remained constant for 45 minutes. By positron emission tomography, the drug distribution was shown to be in the gray matter, and such structures as the cortex, caudate nucleus, thalamus and putamen could be identified. This new methodology will be helpful in studying specific receptors in humans in a noninvasive way.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Perspectives in chemotherapy of schizophrenic psychoses.

1. The treatment of schizophrenic symptoms has not the same efficacy in acute and chronic phases of the disease and on the various target symptoms of schizophrenia. 2. The ideal antipsychotic drug might have different properties, sometimes contradictory, to be effective both on paranoid and hebephrenic symptoms which seem to be a mirror image of the same disorder. 3. Basic perspectives in the chemotherapy of schizophrenic psychoses must be founded on better methodological considerations in clinical trials, on a better use of antipsychotic drugs with the help of pharmacokinetic data and computerized EEG and also on new neurochemical findings. 4. Recent data on the mode of action of neuroleptics open up new therapeutic classes of drugs. Such are GABA-like drugs and, more recently, beta-blockers.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1979

Haloperidol plasma level monitoring in pediatric patients.

Plasma levels of haloperidol were monitored in children and teenagers suffering from psychotic episodes and/or abnormal movements (tics and Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome). Steady-state concentrations of haloperidol ranged from 0.7 to 19 ng/ml without any apparent relationship with the administered dose (15--285 micrograms/kg/day) and a 15-fold variability was observed for the same daily dosage. On the contrary, a significant (p < 0.02) relationship was found between the age of the patients and the plasma concentrations to dose ratios, lower values being present in younger patients. Side effects too appeared to be related to plasma levels, with a significant increase (p < 0.01) in incidence for concentrations over 6 ng/ml. In most of the cases suffering from tics and Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome, a positive response was associated with plasma levels of 1--4 ng/ml, while no relationship could be established for the psychotic group. The relevance of monitoring plasma drug levels when prescribing haloperidol in pediatrics is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

[Dopa and dopamine agonists in depression (author's transl)].

Following a summary of the functional organisation of the ascending dopamine systems, the pharmacology of the dopamine synaptic receptors is considered. The stress is placed upon the differences induced by dopamine agonists during short-term and long-term treatment. In this connection, recent ideas on the heterogeneous nature of the dopamine receptors, on their specificity and on their functional role will be discussed. The dopaminergic action of certain antidepressants will be studied by analysing the different types of activity: presynaptic release, direct pre- or post-synaptic agonism. The role of dopaminergic transmission in depression of mood is considered finally on the basis of clinico-biochemical correlations. Finally, dopaminergic activity is linked with the other possible changes in cerebral monoamines by drafting a table of the interactions between the neurotransmitters.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

[Monoaminergic theories in depressive illness (author's transl)].

The biochemical exploration in man is limited by ethical and technical factors. Results are contradictory and it is only by the mean of the antidepressants used as pharmacological tools that monoaminergic hypotheses have been made. The specificity of action of these drugs is very different from one substance to another and the post synaptic impact of the antidepressants is more important than it was thought before. Finally the monoaminergic hypothesis is too simple and cannot summarize the biochemical factors in depression.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1979

[Value of pharmacokinetic data during the treatment of psychoses with haloperidol].

Pharmacokinetic data of psychotropic drugs should allow a better understanding of therapeutic results and side effects. The different factors influencing liberation, absorption, protein binding, distribution, metabolism and excretion are reviewed. Then, the principal pharmacokinetic data of haloperidol are exposed with a special emphasis on the lack of information about the correlations between plasma levels and clinical effects. The role of pharmacokinetic informations in the interpretation of responses to treatment is detailed, wishing that the monitoring of haloperidol plasma levels will be more developped in a next future.

Haloperidol↗