Plasma cortisol response to opiate receptor blockade during the menstrual cycle.
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Adult↗
Biomedical subjects
M Maj
Publications and source records attributed to M Maj.
Participation of GABA B binding sites on the control of prolactin, but not gonadotropin secretion in humans.
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Adult↗
Platelet 3H-imipramine binding and response to minaprine in patients with major depression.
Platelet 3H-imipramine binding was studied in 37 patients fulfilling Research Diagnostic Criteria for major depressive disorder, examined before and after four weeks of treatment with minaprine 200 mg/day, and in 19 healthy controls. Mean baseline Bmax values of depressed patients were found to be significantly lower than those of controls, while no significant difference between the two groups was observed with respect to mean Kd. Treatment with minaprine did not significantly affect Bmax or Kd in depressed patients. When patients who responded to treatment (n = 18) were compared with nonresponders (n = 19), mean baseline Bmax values were found to be significantly lower in the former group, whereas mean Kd values did not differ. It is hypothesized that reduced 3H-imipramine binding may represent a predictor of a favorable response to antidepressant drugs which potentiate serotonergic transmission.
Adult↗
Clinical course and outcome of cycloid psychotic disorder: a three-year prospective study.
The course and outcome of cycloid psychotic disorder was explored by means of a prospective three-year follow-up of a sample of patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for the disorder provided by Perris & Brockington, compared to patients with a diagnosis of affective or schizoaffective disorder. The most striking difference between cycloids and affectives was the lack of manic episodes during the follow-up period in the former group. Moreover, the mean age at onset was lower in cycloids. No difference between these patient groups was observed with regard to outcome. Compared to schizoaffectives, cycloids showed several differences in the clinical picture during the index episode, and their symptomatological pattern was more consistent from one episode to another during the follow-up. Moreover, the outcome of cycloids was significantly more favourable than that of schizodepressives.
Adult↗
Evidence for a sex difference in the basal growth hormone response to GABAergic stimulation in humans.
Evidence has been provided supporting the existence of a sex-related difference in the GH secretion following different GH-releasing stimuli. Since pharmacological activation of the endogenous gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA) system results in increased basal GH release in humans, the present study was undertaken to investigate whether a sex difference is present in the GH response to GABAergic stimulation. Sixteen healthy subjects (8 women and 8 men) received orally 10 mg of baclofen, the direct GABAB agonist which freely crosses the blood-brain barrier. Blood samples were collected before (T = -30 and 0) and 30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 min after the drug administration for plasma GH measurements. Following baclofen administration, plasma GH rose in healthy males (F = 19.417, P less than 0.0001), but not in females (F = 1.67, NS). These results suggest that GABA modulation of human GH release is sex-dependent.
Adult↗
Gonadal steroids do not affect basal growth hormone response to naloxone in humans.
Evidence has accumulated that endogenous hypothalamic opioid activity fluctuates through the menstrual cycle depending upon the ovarian steroid milieu. In fact, naloxone, the specific opiate antagonist, is more effective in producing neuroendocrine changes in the late follicular and midluteal phases of the menstrual cycle, when the functional activity of hypothalamic opiate system is high. In order to investigate a possible regulatory function of endogenous opioids on basal growth hormone (GH) secretion in humans, we studied the basal GH response to naloxone (2 mg iv as a bolus) in different phases of the menstrual cycle in ten regularly menstruating women and in eight hypogonadal (postmenopausal) females before and after estrogen treatment. This protocol was carried out to test the hypothesis that estrogens could sensitize basal GH response to opiate receptor blockade. The results do not support this view and suggest that, under basal conditions, hypothalamic opiates have minimal influence on GH secretion in humans.
Adult↗
Prediction of outcome by historical, clinical and biological variables in schizoaffective disorder, depressed type.
The usefulness of several historical, clinical and biological variables as possible predictors of outcome was tested in a sample of patients with a cross-sectional diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, depressed type. Four historical items were found to be successful: a family history of chronic schizophrenia, the occurrence of schizophrenic symptoms at some stage of the illness in the absence of depression and an onset of the index episode as exacerbation of previous symptoms (all associated with a relatively poor outcome), and a personal history of previous manic episodes (associated with a relatively good outcome). The various aspects of the clinical picture during the index episode, as well as the response on dexamethasone suppression test, were not found to have any predictive value. These findings confirm that, in patients with a cross-sectional diagnosis of schizodepressive disorder, the previous course of the illness is of crucial importance for prognosis, and support the usefulness of a multiaxial classification of schizoaffective states, taking into account not only cross-sectional symptomatology but also course.
Adult↗
Clinical, biological, and neuropsychological features associated with lateral ventricular enlargement in DSM-III schizophrenic disorder.
Clinical, historical, neuropsychological, and biological correlates of lateral ventricular enlargement on computed tomography (CT scan) were explored in a sample of DSM-III schizophrenics. Patients with enlarged ventricles, as compared with those whose ventricles were normal, presented a longer duration of illness and mean duration of hospitalization, and higher scores on the subscales alogia, affective flattening, and attentional impairment of the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), on the scales self-care, participation in household activities, work performance, and behavior in crises and emergencies of the Disability Assessment Schedule, on the scales rhythm, writing, reading, arithmetic, and left hemisphere of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery, and on the subtests digit span, digit symbol and block design of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Furthermore, on the computerized electroencephalogram, beta relative activity was significantly higher in patients with normal ventricles on the right frontal, left frontal, and right central leads. On stepwise discriminant function analysis, the patient groups with enlarged and normal ventricles could be separated statistically, and duration of illness and summary score on the SANS were found to be the best discriminators.
Adolescent↗
Factors associated with decreased platelet MAO activity in chronic schizophrenics.
Platelet MAO activity was determined in a sample of chronic schizophrenics, including drug-free and neuroleptic-treated patients, and in a normal control group. Patients with MAO values below and above the median were compared with respect to several clinical, historical, neuroradiological and neuropsychological variables. The enzyme activity was significantly decreased in the whole patient group and in the subgroup of neuroleptic-treated patients, but not in the subgroup of drug-free patients. The only significant difference between low MAO and high MAO patients concerned drug status (higher percentage of patients on neuroleptics in the former subgroup). On stepwise discriminant function analysis, drug status (on neuroleptics vs. off neuroleptics) correctly classified 63.4% of patients.
Adult↗
Frog retinal pigment screening and lithium.
The effect of the intraperitoneal injection of lithium on the pattern of the pigment screening (PS) of the frog retina has been studied in various illumination conditions. Lithium enhances the PS pattern induced by dark and it substantially modifies the PS pattern induced by the other light conditions. The dark-induced PS pattern is very stable and might be regulated by a single factor. The PS of light-adapted frogs is easily modified by drug administration and probably depends on a variety of factors which may be affected differently by the various injected substances. The possibility that lithium, melatonin and darkness might act in the same way or on the same system which regulates the PS in dark-adaptation must not be disregarded.
Animals↗
Lithium and melatonin: morphological modifications induced in frog retina pigment screening.
Pigment screening (PS) is a phenomenon occurring in the retina of lower vertebrates, which consists in the dispersion, induced by the light, of melatonin granules into processes of the pigment epithelium which extend between photoreceptors, and in the aggregation, induced by the dark, of the same granules within the cell bodies of the pigment epithelium. It has been hypothesized that this phenomenon might be modulated by melatonin, which is present not only in the pineal but also in the retina, and whose retinal content is high in the dark and low in the light. In the present study we demonstrate that a single intraperitoneal injection of lithium chloride affects in a peculiar way PS of light-adapted frogs and of frogs subjected to natural day/night conditions, but not that of dark-adapted frogs. The implications of this findings are briefly discussed, also in view of the reported effect of lithium on the 24-hour rhythm of retinal melatonin, and of the possible relationship between this effect and the altering properties of lithium on other biological rhythms.
Adaptation, Ocular↗
Conditional associative learning in drug-free schizophrenic patients.
The performance on spatial and nonspatial associative learning tasks was tested in a sample of male drug-free DSM III-diagnosed schizophrenic patients and in a closely matched normal control group. Schizophrenics showed a worse performance on both versions of the task, but especially on the nonspatial one. A significant correlation was observed between some indices of the nonspatial task and the scores on two subscales (affective flattening and anhedonia) of the scale for the assessment of negative symptoms by Andreasen. These results are consistent with the hypothesis of a dysfunction of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia and with the postulated linkage between such dysfunction and negative schizophrenic symptomatology.
Adult↗
Perceived parental rearing behaviour and psychopathology in epileptic patients: a controlled study.
Memories of parental rearing behaviour were assessed by the EMBU in 61 epileptics and 151 healthy controls. The occurrence of the first crisis during the childhood was an inclusion criterion for patients. Epileptics, as compared with controls, rated their fathers and mothers as less stimulating, their fathers as less performance oriented and affectionate, and their mothers as more tolerant. Moreover, the score on the subscale 'favouring subject' for both fathers and mothers was higher in epileptics. As patients with and without interictal psychopathological features were compared, the scores on the subscales 'overprotective' and 'favouring subject' for mothers and 'abusive' and 'depriving' for fathers were higher in the former subgroup, whereas that on the subscale 'performance oriented' for fathers was higher in the latter. No significant difference was observed among patients suffering from the various subtypes of epilepsy. These results are consistent with the idea that parents of epileptics tend to encourage passivity in their children, have low expectations as regards their ability to operate effectively, and treat them in a more indulgent way because of their disability. Furthermore, they are in line with the reported association between maternal overprotectiveness and problem behaviour in epileptics.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
[Evaluation of the operative style of psychiatric services: presentation and validation of a new questionnaire].
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Evaluation Studies as Topic↗
The effect of bromocriptine on plasma catecholamine concentrations in normal volunteers.
The effect of the ergot derivative bromocriptine (5 mg orally) on blood pressure and plasma catecholamine concentrations was explored in normal volunteers. A significant decrease of plasma noradrenaline was found, while dopamine and adrenaline concentrations did not change significantly. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly lowered at 150 min after administration. The hypotensive effect of bromocriptine seems to be mediated by a lowered release of noradrenaline from sympathetic nerve endings. It may be hypothesized that the drug stimulates presynaptic dopamine receptors located on postganglionic sympathetic nerves, thus inhibiting noradrenaline discharge.
Adult↗
Growth hormone response to sodium valproate in chronic schizophrenia.
The hypothesis of a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) involvement in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia has been recently proposed but not confirmed. As GABA has been shown to affect basal growth hormone (GH) secretion in humans, the assessment of plasma GH response to a GABAergic drug, such as sodium valproate (SV), in schizophrenic subjects might be a tool with which to investigate central GABA activity in this illness. For this purpose, we administered orally 800 mg of SV or placebo to 13 chronic schizophrenics and to 10 normal controls, and measured plasma GH levels before and after the drug administration. SV enhanced basal GH secretion in healthy male volunteers, but not in chronic schizophrenics. These results suggest a defect of the endogenous GABA system in chronic schizophrenia. Whether the reduced responsiveness observed represents a primary defect or a secondary alteration of the GABA system in schizophrenia is as yet unknown.
Adult↗
Minimum plasma lithium levels required for effective prophylaxis in DSM III bipolar disorder: a prospective study.
Four groups of DSM III bipolar patients, whose plasma lithium levels were maintained at 0.30-0.45 (group A), 0.46-0.60 (group B), 0.61-0.75 (group C), and 0.76-0.90 (group D) mEq/l respectively, were followed-up for two years. The mean number of affective episodes and the mean total morbidity during the lithium treatment period were significantly decreased in all groups except group A when compared with the pre-lithium period. Moreover, in group A, the mean total scores on CPRS depressive and manic items during the interepisodic periods were significantly higher than in each of the other groups. As a result of the low scores of patients in group A and the high scores of patients in group D on the side effect checklist, the frequency and intensity of side effects differed significantly among the four groups. These data suggest that, in the prophylactic treatment of bipolar patients, plasma lithium levels should, as a rule, be adjusted to the range 0.46-0.75 mEq/l.
Adult↗
Neuropsychological functioning in schizoaffective disorder, depressed type.
Neuropsychological functioning in schizoaffective disorder, depressed type, was tested by two parallel studies. In Study 1, the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB) was administered to samples of patients meeting Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for schizodepressive disorder, major depressive disorder or schizophrenia, and to a normal control group. In Study 2, the same test battery was used in patients with a former RDC diagnosis of schizodepressive or major depressive disorder, examined from 2 to 4 years after the index episode, during a phase of remission. Study 1 showed that the performance of schizodepressives on LNNB is, on average, intermediate between those of depressives and schizophrenics, which finding is compatible with the view that RDC schizoaffective depression encompasses a heterogeneous group of syndromes, some of which are related to major depression and some to schizophrenia. Study 2 showed that the mean scores on the LNNB scales Memory and Intellectual processes are significantly higher in patients with a former diagnosis of schizodepressive disorder, which supports the idea that the outcome of these patients is worse, on average, than that of "pure" depressives.
Adult↗