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Biomedical subjects

J Rybakowski

Publications and source records attributed to J Rybakowski.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Clinical and biochemical heterogeneity of alcoholism: the role of family history and alexithymia.

Of 100 male patients with alcohol dependence, clinical and biochemical data were analysed in relation to family history of alcoholism and alexithymic personality traits. Family history was found in 38 patients and alexithymic personality traits in 79. No relationship was established between these two factors. In patients with a family history alcoholism began at a younger age with more severe clinical symptoms than in the remaining subjects. Patients with alexithymia had lower intensity of psychopathology but higher frequency of concomitant hypertension. Patients with family history had higher leukocyte counts and lower alcohol-induced elevations of liver enzymes and plasma lipids. In patients with alexithymia, higher values of hemoglobin and hematocrit were found. The results suggest that two predisposing factors to alcohol dependence such as family history of alcoholism and alexithymic personality determine the different clinical and biochemical features of the disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

A possible antiviral action of lithium carbonate in herpes simplex virus infections.

There has been considerable interest in the possibility that some psychotropic medications may possess antiviral activity. Several clinical observations suggest that lithium may inhibit the reactivation of latent herpes simplex virus, thereby reducing the number of recurrent infections. We performed a retrospective study examining the putative antiviral activity of various psychotropic agents in 177 subjects receiving lithium prophylaxis and a comparison group of 59 subjects receiving other antidepressant drugs for affective illness. Chronic lithium administration resulted in a significant reduction in the mean rate of recurrent labial herpes infections when compared to the pretreatment period (p less than 0.001). In contrast, the mean rate of herpes infections was unchanged in patients taking other antidepressants (p = 0.53). Although the overall reduction in herpes infections was not significantly different between groups, the proportion of subjects reporting a reduction in infection rate was greater in the lithium group (71%) compared with those receiving other antidepressants (52%) (p = 0.07). These data compliment prior in vitro and clinical studies demonstrating a potential antiviral activity for lithium carbonate.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

High prevalence of alexithymia in male patients with alcohol dependence.

The personality trait of alexithymia was assessed in 100 male inpatients with alcohol dependence using the Schaling-Sifneos Personality Scale. The score indicative of alexithymia (below 50 points) was found in 78 patients, a prevalence which exceeds that found in psychosomatic subjects. Patients with alexithymia did not differ from non-alexithymics in regard to demographic factors and severity of alcohol dependence. They were younger and had a shorter duration of illness what may indicate that alexithymia is not a result of the dependence. Alcoholic patients with concomitant hypertension had greater alexithymic scores. It is hypothesized that psychological and biological features of alexithymic subjects may render them more vulnerable to alcohol and more prone to subsequent development of the dependence.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Erythrocyte lithium transport during lithium treatment in patients with affective disorders.

Erythrocyte lithium transport mechanisms--lithium-sodium countertransport (LSC), lithium-potassium cotransport (LPC) and passive lithium efflux (PLE)--were measured in 46 patients with bipolar affective disorder on prophylactic lithium therapy and in 20 healthy control subjects. Maximal velocity of LSC measured at saturating intracellular lithium concentration was lower in the patients than in the controls; this may concur with previous reports on possible links between impaired activity of LSC and bipolar affective illness. When measured at therapeutic lithium concentration, LSC was 4 times lower and Km for LSC was 5 times higher in lithium-treated affective patients than in control subjects. The in vivo erythrocyte:plasma lithium ratio was inversely correlated with LSC in lithium-treated patients; higher ratios were found in females than in males. No differences were found between affective patients and control subjects in other erythrocyte lithium transport measurements. The values for lithium transport were not related to age, duration of lithium therapy, concomitant neuroleptic treatment, hypertension or obesity. Lower activity of LSC was found in patients with lithium-induced thyroid enlargement than in the other patients. The results obtained are discussed in the light of contemporary findings concerning erythrocyte lithium transport mechanisms in affective disorders and other conditions.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Erythrocyte cation transport in endogenous depression: clinical and psychophysiological correlates.

Clinical (psychometric), psychophysiological and biochemical (erythrocyte membrane transport) variables were studied in 44 patients with endogenous depression (unipolar/bipolar) during acute depressive episode and in remission. All parameters studied showed paralleled and unidirectional changes when depression was compared with remission period. During a depressive episode, unipolar patients had greater intensity of depression than bipolar patients. Ouabain-dependent sodium fluxes were significantly lower in female than in male patients during depression than in remission. In male bipolar patients, the indexes of active transport in erythrocytes showed significant correlations with clinical ratings and with results of psychophysiological tests. The results point to a possible relationship between various levels of physiological functioning in endogenous depression. This suggests a generalised "background" defect of energy-dependent membrane transport pertaining to both erythrocytes and nerve cells, which may be linked to disturbances of activational processes within the central nervous system.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

The activity of the lithium--sodium countertransport system in erythrocytes in depression and mania.

The activity of the lithium--sodium countertransport system in erythrocytes was estimated in 16 control subjects and 28 patients suffering from affective disorders (11 bipolar, 17 unipolar) during depression, mania and remission. In all the patients studied, mean estimates of countertransport were significantly lower during an episode than after remission, with low values occurring more frequently in mania than in depression in bipolar patients. The mean values in patients with affective disorders but who were in remission remained lower than those of control subjects. Lowest values occurred more frequently in patients with bipolar than in those with unipolar illness. the possible physiological significance of reductions in the activity of the lithium--sodium countertransport mechanism in red cells was discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Erythrocyte membrane adenosine triphosphatase activities in patients with endogenous depression and healthy subjects.

Specific activities of erythrocyte membrane Na-K ATP-ase, Mg ATP-ase and Ca-Mg ATP-ase were measured in twenty-five patients with endogenous depression both during acute phase of the illness and in remission as well as in sixteen healthy subjects. The three ATP-ase activities were significantly lower during depressive phase than in remission period. The ATP-ase values of depressive patients in remission did not differ from those of healthy controls. No difference was found in respect to parameters studied between the group of patients with depression in the course of bipolar manic-depressive psychosis and patients with unipolar depression both in depression and remission. These data may suggest that the reduced activity of ATPases in depressed patients is not due to a primary genetic defect but is an episodic change associated with depression. In view of consistency of this phenomenon its diagnostic and research potential is worthy of further study.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1981

Influence of lithium on neutrophil granulocyte distribution and turnover.

In 10 psychiatric patients marrow granulocyte reserve, marginal granulocyte pool, granulocyte mobilization into skin chamber, serum lysozyme activity was estimated before and ten days after the lithium treatment. In all patients the peripheral neutrophil count rose significantly. The marrow granulocyte reserve did not change markedly. Moreover, the marginal granulocyte pool as expressed in percentages diminished. Serum lysozyme activity, total leukocyte mobilization, and blood granulocyte clearance remained unchanged. However, the serum lysozyme activity index fell significantly. The in vitro addition of lithium to the suspension of granulocytes obtained from healthy persons reduce the granulocyte adherence especially in concentrations similar to those induced in treated patients. Our findings suggest that lithium in vivo may diminish the granulocyte adherence resulting in the prolonged intravascular half-life time of the cells. Thus, the cell accumulation in the vascular bed seems to be the main reason for lithium induced granulocytosis rather than the intensification of marrow granulocyte system proliferation.

Affective Disorders, Psychotic↗
PubMed1980

Investigations on electrolyte and water contents in plasma and red blood cells in the course of thymoleptic treatment of depressive syndromes.

Water and electrolyte contents in plasma and red blood cells (RBC) were studied in 46 patients with depressive syndromes of various etiology (bipolar, unipolar, psychogenic) before and after 14 days of imipramine treatment. Initial low RBC sodium levels were characteristic of patients with bipolar depression. A significant increase in RBC sodium was observed after imipramine treatment in a group of good imipramine responders. RBC sodium changes in psychogenic patients after imipramine were different from those observed in endogenous (bipolar plus unipolar) ones. A fall in plasma calcium levels was shown in the course of imipramine administration mostly in patients with favourable response to the drug.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

The relative prophylactic efficacy of lithium against manic and depressive recurrences in bipolar patients.

The relative prophylactic efficacy of lithium against manic and depressive recurrences was examined in 61 patients (22 males, 39 females) with bipolar manic-depressive disorders by comparing the number of manic and depressive episodes for each patient during equally long periods before and during lithium treatment. In all the patients, the percentage of depressive episodes during lithium was smaller than that of manic episodes. The better antidepressive than antimanic prophylactic effect of lithium was significant only in male patients, while the reduction of manic episodes during lithium was greater in females. The fraction of patients without depressive episodes on lithium was greater in the male group. The results obtained with this study design indicate that lithium is an effective antidepressive prophylactic agent in bipolar patients. Sex differences are also implicated in response to lithium prophylaxis.

Adult↗