Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

V I Reus

Publications and source records attributed to V I Reus.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Evidence for physiological effects of hypercortisolemia in psychiatric patients.

Although some psychiatric patients may have a disorder of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function equal in character and severity to that noted in milder cases of Cushing's disease, it is generally accepted that such patients do not show Cushingoid stigmata. This conclusion, however, appears to be based more on clinical observation than on the results of formal scientific investigation. Since some depressed patients appear to overlap with Cushing's disease patients in incidence of such signs and symptoms as amenorrhea, hypertension, sleep disturbance, and insulin resistance, we were interested in examining whether a group of psychiatric patients showing evidence of marked nonsuppression might not also show physiological changes consonant with the effect of glucocorticoid excess. Nonsuppressors selected on this basis differed slightly from a matched suppressor control group on percentage of polyneutrophils and lymphocytes in blood. A discriminant function constructed from blood sample measurements of 12 factors and systolic/diastolic blood pressure successfully predicted suppressor or nonsuppressor status in the original and in an independent group of psychiatric patients. A comparison group of Cushing's disease patients was also successfully reclassified on the basis of the discriminant function. These data are interpreted as evidence for a subtle physiological effect of HPA dysregulation and suggest that behavioral symptom complexes may be similarly shaped by changes in this neuroendocrine system. The long-term functional significance of such changes is at present speculative.

Cushing Syndrome↗
PubMed1984

Sex differences and asymmetries of catecholamines: relation to turning preferences.

Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were tested for turning preferences in a multiple alley maze. The left and right caudate-putamen were dissected and assayed for norepinephrine and dopamine. Dopamine was not found to be lateralized contralateral to turning preference for females as a group. However, dopamine was significantly lateralized contralateral to the females turning preference if a strong turning bias was present. No relationship between dopamine asymmetry and turning preference was evident for males. Females were found to have norepinephrine significantly lateralized to the left caudate-putamen; in males greater striatal norepinephrine levels were equally distributed between left and right sides. This sexual dimorphism in norepinephrine lateralization was not related to turning preference.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Plasma L-tryptophan/neutral amino acid ratio and dexamethasone suppression in depression.

We examined the ratio of plasma L-tryptophan (L-TRP) to other neutral amino acids (NAA) in normal controls and depressed patients undergoing a dexamethsone suppression test (DST). The L-TRP/NAA ratio discriminated controls from patients; however, there was no difference in the mean L-TRP/NAA ratio between DST suppressors and nonsuppressors. The cortisol level measured at 1600h postdexamethasone and the L-TRP/NAA ratio were positively correlated. The 1600h postdexamethasone cortisol levels accounted for 24% of the variance of Hamilton Depression Rating Scale ( HDRS ) scores. The inclusion of L-TRP/NAA ratios with 1600h postdexamethasone cortisol levels in a multiple regression equation resulted in an increase in this value and accounted for 65% of the variance in HDRS scores. The finding supports the use of multivariate biological models in depression.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Increased plasma MHPG in dexamethasone-resistant depressed patients.

Severely depressed patients frequently show inadequate suppression of serum cortisol levels by dexamethasone. In a study of 15 depressed patients, we found a robust correlation between plasma levels of cortisol and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxy-phenylglycol after dexamethasone administration. These results suggest that dexamethasone resistance and adrenergic activation reflect parallel responses to illness-related stress in some depressed patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Lithium carbonate and L-tryptophan in the treatment of bipolar and schizoaffective disorders.

The authors review theoretical and clinical data supporting the hypothesis that L-tryptophan may potentiate the effects of lithium carbonate and report on a double-blind clinical comparison of lithium plus L-tryptophan and lithium plus placebo in 9 bipolar and 7 schizoaffective patients. Overall the combination of lithium and L-tryptophan resulted in significantly greater improvement. However, the results may have been confounded by the greater, although nonsignificant, doses of neuroleptics administered to the group receiving L-tryptophan. The authors discuss the interactions of lithium and L-trypotophan with the serotonin system.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

The "atypical" clinical picture of adolescent mania.

The authors examined the records of 9 manic patients under age 21 and 12 over age 30 for the incidence of "schizophrenic" and manic symptoms. The adolescent patients had a higher incidence of each of the 10 schizophreniform symptoms rated and significantly more delusions and ideas of reference. Significantly more adolescent patients had 3 or more schizophreniform symptoms; they also had symptoms typical of mania. These findings highlight the diagnostic importance of affective symptoms in psychotic adolescents with mixed symptoms and raise important clinical and theoretical questions about the atypical clinical picture of manic-depressive illness in young patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Pituitary-adrenal disinhibition as the independent variable in the assessment of behavioral symptoms.

The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) has proven to be of clinical utility in the diagnosticc assessment of patients with primary endogenous depressive illness. Studies comparing individuals who show suppression of plasma cortisol after dexamethasone with those showing nonsuppression have thus far been unable to elicit clinical variables that might differentiate the two groups. Some investigators have suggested as an alternative strategy the usage of the biological variable of interest as the independent rather than the dependent variable. In this study we compared the objective and subjective characteristics of 118 psychiatric inpatients who underwent the DST and were divided on the basis of their response into suppressor and nonsuppressor categories. In the first analysis the diagnostic classification of the patient was not considered. In a secondary analysis the clinical characteristics of only those patients with primary endogenous depression are examined. The data show that independent of diagnosis nonsuppressors are noted to have a greater incidence of subjective complaints. These differences between groups are no longer evident on discharge illustrating a significantly better prognosis for the nonsuppression group.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Heterogeneity of amphetamine response in depressed patients.

There is considerable diversity of opinion as to the nature of the response of depressed patients to amphetamine infusion. The authors report on the clinical response of 18 endogenously depressed patients to double-blind, intravenous administration of amphetamine or saline. Although the drug produced activation, mood elevation, and recall of emotionally charged material in the group as a whole, there was considerable heterogeneity of response as well as a tendency for response dimensions to vary independently of one another. The heterogeneity of clinical response may be associated with differences in underlying clinical, biological, and genetic variables in affectively ill patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Neuropeptide modulation of opiate and ethanol tolerance and dependence.

Evidence exists to suggest that there are neurochemical responses common to the development of tolerance to and dependence on a variety of psychoactive drugs. Experimental data indicates that pituitary peptides such as corticotropin and vasopressin, in addition to the endorphins, influence the development of physical dependence on either morphine or ethanol. If these findings are supported by further investigations with human subjects, various manipulations of pituitary-adrenal function, such as the administration of corticotropin and vasopressin analogs or drugs such as dexamethasone, may prove to be of clinical utility.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1980

Failure of naloxone to reduce manic symptoms.

The authors conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled study in which patients with a wide range of manic symptoms were administered 20 mg of naloxone subcutaneously. Naloxone failed to improve manic severity, activation-arousal, or elation-grandiosity for intervals up to 3 hours. Global nurse ratings of mania did not improve over an 8-hour period. The authors suggest that the question of endorphin involvement in mania has not been resolved and recommend clinical studies with longer acting oral narcotic antagonists such as naltrexone.

Affective Disorders, Psychotic↗