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Biomedical subjects

Z Rihmer

Publications and source records attributed to Z Rihmer.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Dexamethasone suppression test and depressive symptoms in schizophrenics and endogenous depressed patients.

Dexamethasone Suppression Test (DST) was given to 30 depressed and 30 schizophrenic patients. 10 depressed patients (33%) and 6 schizophrenics (20%) showed abnormal DST; the difference was not statistically significant. The DST-positive and DST-negative patients did not differ significantly in the total scores on anxiety-depression factor of the BPRS, either in the group of depressed patients or in schizophrenics.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Platelet MAO activity and the dexamethasone suppression test in bipolar depression.

The correlation between postdexamethasone cortisol levels after the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) and platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity was studied in 31 depressed female inpatients with Research Diagnostic Criteria primary, endogenous, bipolar depression (12 bipolar 1 and 19 bipolar 11). Out of the 31 patients, 25 showed abnormal DST results. Platelet MAO activity did not differ significantly from the matched control group. There was a trend that patients with higher MAO activity had lower postdexamethasone cortisol levels, but it was significant only for the 0800 hr cortisol levels.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Associations among dexamethasone non-suppression and TRH-induced hormonal responses: increased specificity for melancholia?

TRH-induced thyrotropin (TSH), prolactin (PRL), and growth hormone (GH) responses were investigated together with a dexamethasone suppression test in female psychiatric inpatients with major melancholic depression (n = 21), schizophrenic disorder (n = 20), alcohol dependence (n = 11), and adjustment disorder with predominantly depressed mood (n = 13), as well as in 15 healthy women. Abnormal responses for all four endocrine variables were noted most frequently in melancholia; however, a significant number of the non-depressed patients also had abnormal hormonal responses in the individual test. The association of two or three abnormalities proved to be quite specific for the melancholic group. There were no statistically significant differences in TRH-induced TSH responses among the patient subgroups. Non-suppression of cortisol after dexamethasone was associated with blunted TSH-responses only in melancholia. There was a tendency for non-suppressor schizophrenics to show more abnormal GH-responses to TRH administration.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMed1986

Measurement of platelet monoamine oxidase activity in healthy human volunteers.

Platelet MAO activity of 176 healthy volunteers was studied. Activity of the enzyme was found intraindividually stable, repeated measurements in the same individuals performed 3 weeks and one year later revealed only minimum changes. Platelet MAO activity was found to be significantly higher in females than in males. No age dependence of the measured values could be demonstrated. Enzyme activity values determined with different substrates showed a significant positive correlation. A significant activation of the enzyme was found after the addition of platelet poor plasma to the platelet preparation.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Dexamethasone suppression test as an aid for selection of specific antidepressant drugs in patients with endogenous depression.

The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) and response to two different antidepressant drugs (maprotiline as a specific noradrenergic, and amitriptyline as a predominantly serotoninergic drug) were investigated in 44 endogenously depressed female inpatients. The more anxious and/or agitated patients were mostly treated with amtiriptyline, the non-anxious and retarded patients with maprotiline. It was found that among maprotiline responders (N = 15) there were significantly more abnormal DSTs and postdexamethasone serum cortisol levels were significantly higher than among amitriptyline responders (N = 16). On the other hand, DST abnormalities among amitriptyline non-responders (N = 10) were similar to those among maprotiline responders. The results confirm earlier reports by Brown et al. (1980), Ettigi et al. (1983) and Fraser (1983) and indicate that abnormal DST may identify the "noradrenergic" subtype of endogenous depression and that the DST represents a good way of selecting a specific antidepressant drug for the treatment of endogenously depressed patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Colour associations as predictors of the effectiveness of anti-depressant pharmacotherapy in endogenous depressive patients.

The authors examined the number of associations given for the 8 Lüscher colours by 20 endogenous depressive patients (11 unipolar and 9 bipolar II) before anti-depressant pharmacotherapy and on the 7th, 14th and 21st day of treatment. The depressive patients gave significantly fewer total responses before treatment than the 15 healthy control persons. While the number of associations obtained from the control persons was unchanged at the end of the 1st week, the depressive patients responding to the treatment (responders, n = 15) furnished significantly more responses on the 7th day than before treatment, although there had been no change in the intervening period in the severity of their depression measured by Hamilton depression scale; their clinical state showed a gradual improvement only from the end of the 2nd week. The number of associations obtained from non-responder depressive patients (n = 5) increased only slightly (not significantly). Our preliminary findings suggest that this method could be used to follow changes in the state of depressive patients and to predict their response to anti-depressant pharmacotherapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Dexamethasone suppression test as a predictor of drug treatment response.

The possible predictive value of cortisol non-suppression by dexamethasone for therapeutic response to antidepressants was investigated both in "endogenous" and "neurotic" depression. Seventy-four female patients who fulfilled the RDC of Major Depressive Disorder (Study 1) and 44 female patients with the diagnosis of "Neurotic Depression" of ICD-9 (Study 2) were given DST and then treated with antidepressants, their clinical response being assessed after four weeks of drug treatment. Forty-three out of the 74 patients with Primary Major Depression were non-suppressor. The DST non-suppressors showed a significantly more frequent therapeutic response to maprotiline than to amitriptyline. DST suppressors, on the other hand, responded better to amitriptyline treatment than non-suppressors. In the neurotic depression group 23 patients were subclassified as Primary Minor Depression, and 52% of them showed non-suppressor response to DST. Twenty-one patients were diagnosed as Secondary Depression, with a history of chronic neurosis. One patient only (5%) was the non-suppressor. Patients with Primary Minor Depression showed good therapeutic response to antidepressants more frequently, than patients with Secondary Depression.

Amitriptyline↗
PubMed1984

Neuroendocrine differences among subtypes of schizophrenic disorder? An investigation with the dexamethasone suppression test.

The plasma cortisol suppression following 1 mg dexamethasone was studied in 45 recently hospitalized female patients who met DSM-III criteria for a schizophrenic (or 'schizophreniform') disorder. 19 patients showed nonsuppression (42%): 4 out of 6 within the disorganized (hebephrenic) subtype, 9 out of 10 within the catatonic subtype, 6 out of 11 within the acute ('schizophreniform') subtype and non of the 18 within the paranoid subtype. The distribution is heterogeneous, suggesting that schizophrenic disorders may contain different conditions in terms of limbic pathology. Catatonic patients revealed a very high frequency of nonsuppression, which may indicate that this subtype shares some features of the affective disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The dexamethasone suppression test in psychotic versus non-psychotic endogenous depression.

The authors investigated the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) in 93 female patients with primary (endogenous) major depression; in 20 female paranoid schizophrenics, and in 17 healthy females. Depressed patients had a significantly higher rate of abnormal DST response and significantly higher post-dexamethasone serum cortisol levels than schizophrenics and normal controls. The unipolar and bipolar depressives showed a similar profile of DST abnormalities. Depressed patients with psychotic features had a significantly higher rate of positive DST results than non-psychotic patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Parkinsonian symptoms with lithium, lithium-neuroleptic, and lithium-antidepressant treatment.

Eighty-one patients treated for a least 3 months with lithium were examined for the presence of parkinsonian symptoms. Twenty-four patients were receiving treatment with lithium alone, 30 with lithium and 1 or more neuroleptics, and 27 with lithium and antidepressant. Twenty-four of the patients were found to be free from parkinsonian symptoms. Severe rigidity was not found. Two patients receiving neuroleptic with lithium and 6 on lithium-antidepressant combinations exhibited severe tremor. Neuroleptics administered concomitantly with lithium did not aggravate parkinsonian symptoms. The combination of lithium and an antidepressant significantly increased tremor in comparison to lithium alone.

Adult↗