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Biomedical subjects

P Sirota

Publications and source records attributed to P Sirota.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Increased interleukin-1 and interleukin-3 like activity in schizophrenic patients.

1. The interleukins play an important role in the development and maintenance of the immune system 2. Decreased cell mediated immunity measures were found in schizophrenic patients. 3. The purpose of the present study was to study the spontaneous production of interleukin-1 (IL-1) and interleukin-3 like activity (IL-3-LA) by human mononuclear cells from schizophrenic patients in comparison to healthy individuals. 4. Interleukin-1 was increased significant by schizophrenic patients as compared to controls. 5. Interleukin-3 like activity was slightly elevated in schizophrenic patients as compared to controls. 6. These findings support the hypothesis of an autoimmune dysfunction in some schizophrenic patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

A comparison of two modalities of cognitive therapy (individual and marital) in treating depression.

Historically, depression was explained and treated intrapsychically and/or biochemically. In the 1970s theoretical propositions and treatment applications began to appear that offered that depression should be viewed cognitively (Beck 1963, 1974; Beck et al. 1979) or interpersonally (Coyne 1976a, 1976b; Klerman et al. 1984). Simultaneously, though more sporadically, marital interventions started to attract interest (Feldman 1976; Friedman 1975). The cognitive and interpersonal trends of thinking stimulated researchers to investigate the efficacy of these therapeutic modalities and to compare them with each other. Interest in these two treatments peaked with the publication of the study that emerged from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program (Elkin et al. 1989). This well-known research found that the two psychotherapies were similarly effective, but that the interpersonal approach was slightly more successful with more severely depressed patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[Self-castration].

Self-castration has been described in different eras and societies. It usually occurs in transsexualism, serious personality disorders and psychosis. It is not impulsive, but the result of long-standing conflicts, usually involving difficulties with male identity and inability to cope with sexual drives. Schizophrenics usually act under the influence of delusions and hallucinations. The medical and social attitudes to self-castration are never unequivocal. There are 60 case reports in the psychiatric literature. We describe a 35-year-old schizophrenic who castrated himself.

Hallucinations↗
PubMed1994

Anticardiolipin antibodies are elevated in drug-free, multiply affected families with schizophrenia.

The objective of this study was to measure anticardiolipin antibodies in patients and healthy relatives in multicase families with schizophrenia. Twenty-eight (28) multicase families with schizophrenia were examined. One hundred three drug-free patients and 66 first-degree relatives consented to evaluation by DSM-III-R criteria. Criteria for patient definition included the following: age > or = 16, a confirmed hospital diagnosis of schizophrenia, knowledge of biological parents, and consent to participate. Additional data were drawn from family history and medical records. Serum samples were tested separately for IgG and IgM anticardiolipin by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and designated positive/negative by comparison to the reactivity of an age-matched control group. IgG anticardiolipin antibodies were significantly more common in both patients and relatives compared to controls. IgM anticardiolipin antibodies were significantly more common in patients. In 75% of families at least one member was anticardiolipin positive and this positivity correlated with patient positivity. The relevance of anticardiolipin antibodies in both patients and healthy relatives of some multicase families to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Body esteem in Israeli university students.

Body-esteem is an important dimension in the general concept of body-image. The Body Esteem Scale (BES) was developed and tested in the USA. We tested young men and women in Israel all of whom were university students after their army service. Our results show that Israeli men score lower (feel more negative) on the virility reflecting subscale while Israeli women score higher (feel more positive) in the weight concern subscale--compared to their American counterparts. We discuss the possible explanations of this difference, focusing mainly on the impact of army discharge and the move to the academic field.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Autoantibodies to DNA in multicase families with schizophrenia.

In an attempt to define the autoimmune status of members of multicase families with schizophrenia, sera of both patients and healthy relatives from 28 such cases were tested for antinuclear antibodies, anti-double-stranded DNA, and anti-single-stranded DNA autoantibodies. These autoantibodies were significantly more frequent in both schizophrenic patients and healthy relatives than in normal subjects. Immunoglobulin (Ig) M anti-DNA antibodies were more common in patients, whereas in healthy relatives, IgG anti-DNA antibodies were more common. No significant differences were found between schizophrenic patients and their healthy relatives. The data indicate that an autoimmune process may be involved in the etiology of a subset of patients with schizophrenia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Increased anti-Sm antibodies in schizophrenic patients and their families.

1. Autoantibodies in the Sm complex have become a useful serologic aid in the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and have rarely been observed in other diseases. 2. A subset of SLE patients have a variety of psychiatric abnormalities, including schizophrenia. 3. The authors have recently observed that schizophrenic patients have a high incidence of autoantibodies suggesting that autoimmune phenomena may play a role in the pathogenesis of this disease. 4. In the present study the authors investigated multicase families with schizophrenia for the presence of anti-Sm antibodies and showed that these autoantibodies are elevated both in patients and in their healthy relatives. 5. An autoimmune process may be involved in the pathology of schizophrenia.

Adolescent↗