| 1 | Epilepsia 2003 Apr 44: 591-7 |
|---|---|
| PMID | 12681010 |
| Title | Behavioral disorders in pediatric epilepsy: unmet psychiatric need. |
| Abstract | This study examined the relation between psychiatric diagnosis and mental health services in children with epilepsy and the associated demographic, cognitive, linguistic, behavioral, and seizure-related variables. The Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and schizophrenia (K-SADS), the Child Behavior Checklist, the Test of Language Development, and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) were administered to 114 children, aged 5 to 16 years, with either complex partial seizures (CPS) or primary generalized with absence (PGE, petit MAL). A Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) diagnosis and information regarding mental health services were derived from the K-SADS. Although approximately 60% of the subjects had a DSM-IV psychiatric diagnosis, >60% received no mental health treatment. Absence of mental health care was associated with younger age, less parental education, limited number of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs; i.e., one or none), and higher verbal IQ. In addition, children with PGE and a single psychiatric diagnosis were less likely to have a history of mental health treatment. This is the first study to demonstrate unmet mental health need in a large sample of children with CPS and PGE. The study's findings suggest that parents and clinicians should be aware of the mental health needs of children with epilepsy, particularly if they have one or more of the identified risk factors. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia, schizophrenic, schizophrenics |
| 2 | Mol. Psychiatry 2005 Mar 10: 309-22 |
| PMID | 15303102 |
| Title | Transcriptional profiling reveals evidence for signaling and oligodendroglial abnormalities in the temporal cortex from patients with major depressive disorder. |
| Abstract | Major depressive disorder is one of the most common and devastating psychiatric disorders. To identify candidate mechanisms for major depressive disorder, we compared gene expression in the temporal cortex from 12 patients with major depressive disorder and 14 matched controls using Affymetrix HgU95A microarrays. Significant expression changes were revealed in families of genes involved in neurodevelopment, signal transduction and cell communication. Among these, the expression of 17 genes related to oligodendrocyte function was significantly (P < 0.05, fold change > 1.4) decreased in patients with major depressive disorder. Eight of these 17 genes encode structural components of myelin (CNP, MAG, MAL, MOG, MOBP, PMP22, PLLP, PLP1). Five other genes encode enzymes involved in the synthesis of myelin constituents (ASPA, UGT8), or are essential in regulation of myelin formation (ENPP2, EDG2, TF, KLK6). One gene, that is, SOX10, encodes a transcription factor regulating other myelination-related genes. OLIG2 is a transcription factor present exclusively in oligodendrocytes and oligodendrocyte precursors. Another gene, ERBB3, is involved in oligodendrocyte differentiation. In addition to myelination-related genes, there were significant changes in multiple genes involved in axonal growth/synaptic function. These findings suggest that major depressive disorder may be associated with changes in cell communication and signal transduction mechanisms that contribute to abnorMALities in oligodendroglia and synaptic function. Taken together with other studies, these findings indicate that major depressive disorder may share common oligodendroglial abnorMALities with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia, schizophrenic, schizophrenics |
| 3 | Am. J. Med. Genet. B Neuropsychiatr. Genet. 2007 Mar 144B: 129-58 |
| PMID | 17266109 |
| Title | Towards understanding the schizophrenia code: an expanded convergent functional genomics approach. |
| Abstract | Identifying genes for schizophrenia through classical genetic approaches has proven arduous. Here, we present a comprehensive convergent analysis that translationally integrates brain gene expression data from a relevant pharmacogenomic mouse model (involving treatments with a psychomimetic agent - phencyclidine (PCP), and an anti-psychotic - clozapine), with human genetic linkage data and human postmortem brain data, as a Bayesian strategy of cross validating findings. Topping the list of candidate genes, we have three genes involved in GABA neurotransmission (GABRA1, GABBR1, and GAD2), one gene involved in glutamate neurotransmission (GRIA2), one gene involved in neuropeptide signaling (TAC1), two genes involved in synaptic function (SYN2 and KCNJ4), six genes involved in myelin/glial function (CNP, MAL, MBP, PLP1, MOBP and GFAP), and one gene involved in lipid metabolism (LPL). These data suggest that schizophrenia is primarily a disorder of brain functional and structural connectivity, with GABA neurotransmission playing a prominent role. These findings may explain the EEG gamma band abnorMALities detected in schizophrenia. The analysis also revealed other high probability candidates genes (neurotransmitter signaling, other structural proteins, ion channels, signal transduction, regulatory enzymes, neuronal migration/neurite outgrowth, clock genes, transcription factors, RNA regulatory genes), pathways and mechanisms of likely importance in pathophysiology. Some of the pathways identified suggest possible avenues for augmentation pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia with other existing agents, such as benzodiazepines, anticonvulsants and lipid modulating agents. Other pathways are new potential targets for drug development. Lastly, a comparison with our earlier work on bipolar disorder illuminates the significant molecular overlap between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia, schizophrenic, schizophrenics |
| 4 | BMJ Case Rep 2009 -1 2009: -1 |
| PMID | 21754963 |
| Title | Aripiprazole-induced seizure: a second case report. |
| Abstract | Aripiprazole has been recognised as a third generation antipsychotic and is considered to be distinguished from typical and atypical antipsychotics. In clinical trials, researchers did not mention the risk of aripiprazole-induced seizure, but during a literature review a case report was found that discussed this potential side effect. The present report concerns a 54-year-old man with chronic schizophrenia who developed a witnessed grand MAL seizure after he had abruptly discontinued clozapine and benzodiazepam (BZD) treatment and concurrently reinitiated aripiprazole treatment as the result of an involuntary clinical error. The possible causes were explored, including clozapine-induced or withdrawal seizure, BZD withdrawal syndrome, psychogenic non-epileptic seizure, hyponatraemia, brain tumour and major physical illness, but none of the hypotheses can explain the seizure observed in this case. This second case is presented to corroborate a previous finding and emphasise the possibility of aripiprazole-induced seizure. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia, schizophrenic, schizophrenics |
| 5 | Psychopharmacology (Berl.) 2009 Nov 206: 587-602 |
| PMID | 19277608 |
| Title | Prenatal exposure to infection: a primary mechanism for abnormal dopaminergic development in schizophrenia. |
| Abstract | Prenatal exposure to infection is a notable environmental risk factor in the development of schizophrenia. One prevalent hypothesis suggests that infection-induced disruption of early prenatal brain development predisposes the organism to long-lasting structural and functional brain abnorMALities. Many of the prenatal infection-induced functional brain abnorMALities appear to be closely associated with imbalances in the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system in adult life, suggesting that disruption of functional and structural dopaminergic development may be at the core of the developmental neuropathology associated with psychosis-related abnorMALities induced by prenatal exposure to infection. In this review, we integrate recent findings derived from experimental models in aniMALs with parallel research in humans which supports this hypothesis. We thereby highlight the developmental perspective of abnorMAL DA functions following in-utero exposure to infection in relation to the developmental and maturational mechanisms potentially involved in schizophrenia. Experimental investigations show that early prenatal immune challenge can lead to the emergence of early structural and functional alterations in the mesocorticolimbic DA system, long before the onset of the full spectrum of psychosis-associated behavioral and cognitive abnorMALities in adulthood. Dopaminergic MAL-development in general, and following prenatal immune activation in particular, may represent a primary etiopathological mechanism in the development of schizophrenia and related disorders. This hypothesis differs from the view that dopaminergic abnorMALities in schizophrenia may be secondary to abnorMALities in other brain structures and/or neurotransmitter systems. The existence of primary dopaminergic mechanisms may have important implications for the identification and early treatment of individuals prodroMALly symptomatic for schizophrenia. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia, schizophrenic, schizophrenics |
| 6 | Int J Soc Psychiatry 2012 Jul 58: 362-73 |
| PMID | 21665886 |
| Title | Focusing on the adult attachment style in schizophrenia in community mental health centres: validation of the Psychosis Attachment Measure (PAM) in a German-speaking sample. |
| Abstract | Assessing attachment style in people with schizophrenia may be important to identify a risk factor in building a strong therapeutic relationship and so indirectly to understand the development of MAL-compliance as one of the major obstacles in the treatment of schizophrenia. The present study analysed the psychometric properties of the German version of the Psychosis Attachment Measure (PAM), which assesses avoidant and anxious attachment style. A sample of 127 patients suffering from chronic schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder participated in this study. In testing discriminant validity, we assessed psychopathology, depression, therapeutic relationship and service engagement. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability and factor structure were analysed. The German version of PAM exhibited acceptable to good internal and test-retest reliabilities and the two-factor structure of the English version could be replicated. Avoidant attachment style was related to higher levels of positive symptoms and to a poorer therapeutic relationship. In the context of external validation, a regression analysis revealed that a poor therapeutic relationship correlated with avoidant attachment style, independent of anxious attachment style and depressive symptoms. Anxious attachment was associated with higher treatment adherence. Both insecure attachment styles (avoidant and anxious) were found to be correlated with higher levels of depression, but only attachment anxiety had an independent predictive value for self-reported depression in regression analysis. The German version of PAM displayed satisfactory psychometric properties and seems to be a reliable measure for assessing attachment style in individuals with schizophrenia. Validation of PAM led to the finding that only the avoidant attachment style might be a risk factor when building a strong therapeutic relationship in schizophrenia. In future studies, other factors influencing therapeutic relationship should be taken into account. Anxious attachment style may be a risk factor for depression, but it also has an enhancing effect on treatment adherence. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia, schizophrenic, schizophrenics |
| 7 | J Trauma Dissociation 2013 -1 14: 546-61 |
| PMID | 24060036 |
| Title | Personality assessment inventory profile and predictors of elevations among dissociative disorder patients. |
| Abstract | Assessing patients with dissociative disorders (DD) using personality tests is difficult. On the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 ( J. N. Butcher, W. G. Dahlstrom, J. R. Graham, A. Tellegen, & B. Kaemmer, 1989 ), DD patients often obtain elevations on multiple clinical scales as well as on validity scales that were thought to indicate exaggeration yet have been shown to be elevated among traumatized individuals, including those with DD. No research has been conducted to determine how DD patients score on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; L. C. Morey, 1991 ), which includes the symptom exaggeration scale Negative Impression (NIM) and the MALingering scales MALingering Index (MAL) and Rogers Discriminant Function (RDF). The goals of this study were to document the PAI profile of dissociative identity disorder (DID) and dissociative disorder not otherwise specified (DDNOS) patients and to determine how the validity and schizophrenia scales are related to other PAI scales as well as dissociation. A total of 42 inpatients with DID or DDNOS were assessed on the PAI as well as the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II. The DID/DDNOS patients were elevated on many PAI scales, including NIM and, to a lesser extent, MAL, but not RDF. Dissociation scores significantly and uniquely predicted NIM scores above and beyond Depression and Borderline Features. In addition, after we controlled for MAL and RDF, dissociation was positively associated with NIM. In contrast, after we controlled for the other 2 scales, dissociation was not related to MAL and was negatively related to RDF, indicating that RDF and, to a lesser extent, MAL are better correlates of feigning in DD patients than NIM. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia, schizophrenic, schizophrenics |
| 8 | J Sex Med 2014 Apr 11: 956-65 |
| PMID | 23845160 |
| Title | Remitted male schizophrenia patients with sexual dysfunction. |
| Abstract | Despite the high prevalence of sexual dysfunction among MALe schizophrenia patients, there is still a paucity of research on this area. The study aims to determine the prevalence of sexual dysfunction and any association between MALe patients with schizophrenia in remission and the sociodemographic profile, medication, depression, anxiety, psychopathology of illness, body mass index, and waist circumference. A cross-sectional study with nonprobability sampling method was conducted in a psychiatric outpatient clinic in Taiping Hospital (Perak, MALaysia) over a 7-month period. A total of 111 remitted MALe schizophrenia patients were recruited. The validated MALay version of the International Index of Erectile Function (MAL-IIEF-15) was administered to the patients and assessed over 4-week duration in the domains of erectile function, orgasmic function, sexual desire, intercourse satisfaction, and overall satisfaction. Logistic regression analysis was employed. Prevalence and associated factors for sexual dysfunction in each domain are the main outcome measures. All five domains of sexual functioning in patients showed a high prevalence of dysfunction ranging from 78.4% to 97.1% with orgasmic dysfunction being the least impaired and intercourse satisfaction the worst impaired. Among the domains, only orgasmic dysfunction was significantly associated with race, i.e., Chinese at lower risk for impairment than the MALays (OR?=?0.23; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.76; P?=?0.018); education, i.e., patients with education higher than primary level were at higher risk for dysfunction (OR?=?6.49; 95% CI: 1.32, 32.05; P?=?0.022); and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)-positive subscale, i.e., higher PANSS-positive score was a protective factor for orgasmic dysfunction (OR?=?0.54; 95% CI: 0.33, 0.89; P?=?0.015). The prevalence of sexual dysfunction was generally high. MALay patients and those with education higher than primary level were at higher risk for orgasmic dysfunction whereas higher PANSS-positive score was protective against the impairment. The high rate of sexual dysfunction in schizophrenia patients warrants a routine inquiry into patients' sexuality and the appropriate problems being addressed. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia, schizophrenic, schizophrenics |