From Genetics to Psychosocial Functioning: Unraveling the Mediating Roles of Cognitive Reserve, Cognition, and Negative Symptoms in First-Episode Psychosis.

Background: Studies have shown associations between polygenic risk scores for educational attainment (PRS), cognitive reserve (CR), cognition, negative symptoms (NS), and psychosocial functioning in first-episode psychosis (FEP). However, their specific interactions remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the mediating roles of CR, cognition, and NS in the relationship between PRS and psychosocial functioning one year after a FEP.

Cancer characteristics in patients with schizophrenia: a 25-year retrospective analysis.

Schizophrenia is associated with higher cancer-related mortality, perhaps due to delayed diagnosis and limited access to treatment. The study aimed to compare patients diagnosed with cancer with and without schizophrenia to determine whether these groups differ in terms of oncological variables and survival outcomes. This was a retrospective, observational cohort study that included 30.

Clinical decision-making before discharge in hospitalized persons with schizophrenia: a Spanish Delphi expert consensus.

Introduction: The care of people with schizophrenia (PWS) is usually provided in an outpatient setting by community mental health teams. However, PWS frequently require inpatient treatment because of a wide array of clinical, personal and/or social situations. Unfortunately, to our knowledge, there are no guidelines available to help psychiatrists in the decision-making process on hospital discharge for PWS.

Clozapine use in the first two years after first-episode psychosis in a real-world clinical sample.

Background: Approximately 20-30% of patients with schizophrenia fail to respond to antipsychotic treatment and are considered treatment resistant (TR). Although clozapine is the treatment of choice in these patients, in real-world clinical settings, clinicians often delay clozapine initiation, especially in first-episode psychosis (FEP).

Aim: The main aim of this study was to describe prescription patterns for clozapine in a sample of patients diagnosed with FEP and receiving specialized treatment at a university hospital.

Relationship between thyroid-stimulating hormone, BDNF levels, and hippocampal volume in antipsychotic-naïve first-episode psychosis patients.

Introduction: Thyroid hormones play an essential role in hippocampal development, a key structure in psychosis. However, the role of these hormones in first-episode psychosis (FEP) has received limited attention. It has been hypothesized that thyroid hormones could cause morphological modifications in the hippocampal structure through the upregulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

Progressive loss of cortical gray matter in first episode psychosis patients with auditory hallucinations.

Background: Previous longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown progressive gray matter (GM) reduction during the earliest phases of schizophrenia. It is unknown whether these progressive processes are homogeneous in all groups of patients. One way to obtain more valid findings is to focus on the symptoms.

Hoarding behaviour: special features and complications in real-world clinical practice.

Objective: Hoarding behaviour is a common but poorly characterised problem in real-world clinical practice. Although hoarding behaviour is the key component of Hoarding Disorder (HD), there are people who exhibit hoarding behaviour but do not suffer from HD. The aim of the present study was to characterise a clinical sample of patients with clinically relevant hoarding behaviour and evaluate the differential characteristics between patients with and without HD.

Difficulties during delivery, brain ventricle enlargement and cognitive impairment in first episode psychosis.

Background: Patients with a first episode of psychosis (FEP) display clinical, cognitive, and structural brain abnormalities at illness onset. Ventricular enlargement has been identified in schizophrenia since the initial development of neuroimaging techniques. Obstetric abnormalities have been associated with an increased risk of developing psychosis but also with cognitive impairment and brain structure abnormalities.

Mapping alterations in the local synchrony of the cerebral cortex in schizophrenia.

Background: Observations from different fields of research coincide in indicating that a defective gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) interneuron system may be among the primary factors accounting for the varied clinical expression of schizophrenia. GABA interneuron deficiency is locally expressed in the form of neural activity desynchronization. We mapped the functional anatomy of local synchrony in the cerebral cortex in schizophrenia using functional connectivity MRI.

The polygenic basis of relapse after a first episode of schizophrenia.

Little is known about genetic predisposition to relapse. Previous studies have linked cognitive and psychopathological (mainly schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) polygenic risk scores (PRS) with clinical manifestations of the disease. This study aims to explore the potential role of PRS from major mental disorders and cognition on schizophrenia relapse.

Exploration of cannabis use and polygenic risk scores on the psychotic symptom progression of a FEP cohort.

Cannabis use is highly prevalent in first-episode psychosis (FEP) and plays a critical role in its onset and prognosis, but the genetic underpinnings promoting both conditions are poorly understood. Current treatment strategies for cannabis cessation in FEP are clearly inefficacious. Here, we aimed to characterize the association between cannabis-related polygenic risk scores (PRS) on cannabis use and clinical course after a FEP.

Prodromal symptoms and the duration of untreated psychosis in first episode of psychosis patients: what differences are there between early vs. adult onset and between schizophrenia vs. bipolar disorder?

To assess the role of age (early onset psychosis-EOP < 18 years vs. adult onset psychosis-AOP) and diagnosis (schizophrenia spectrum disorders-SSD vs. bipolar disorders-BD) on the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and prodromal symptoms in a sample of patients with a first episode of psychosis.

Higher lymphocyte count associated with larger hippocampal volume and fewer depressive symptoms in drug-na ïve first-episode psychosis.

Circulating white blood cells (leucocytes), which form the peripheral immune system, are crucial in inflammatory processes but their role in brain structural change in schizophrenia has been scarcely studied. With this study we want to determine how and which type of white blood cells are associated with hippocampal volume (as a key structure in schi- zophrenia etiopathology) in first episode psychosis (FEP) patients. Moreover, to determine the association between white blood cells and clinical symptomatology, including positive and negative symptoms, cognition and depression.

Incidence rate and distinctive characteristics of first episode psychosis during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multicenter observational study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of people around the world. However, its impact on first-episode psychosis (FEP) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence rate (IR) and the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of patients who developed FEP during the nine-month period following the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain and to compare these data to the corresponding period in the previous year.

Substance use Specificities in Women with Psychosis: A Critical Review.

Background: Women with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders differ from male patients in many respects, including psychopathology, prognosis, disease course, and substance use comorbidities. Most studies performed to date to investigate the association between drug use and psychosis have not evaluated gender differences, although this has started to change in recent years.

Methods: We briefly summarize the available evidence on gender differences in drug use and substance use disorders (SUD) in psychotic patients during the early phases of the psychotic illness and during the course of schizophrenia.

The influence of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors on cognition, functioning, and inflammatory markers in first-episode psychosis: Results from a 2-year follow-up study.

To explore the influence of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) on cognitive symptoms, functional impairment, and systemic inflammatory markers in first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients at baseline and 2-year follow-up. Method: In a sample of 70 FEP patients and 85 age- and sex-matched healthy controls, we assessed nine modifiable CVRFs. All participants were classified into two subgroups according to their CVRF profile: lower (0-1 CVRFs) or higher (≥2 CVRFs).

Prefrontal abnormalities, executive dysfunction and symptoms severity are modulated by COMT ValMet polymorphism in first episode psychosis.

Introduction: Core dysfunctions proposed for psychotic disorders include prefrontal cortex (PFC) dopaminergic hypoactivity, executive function (EF) deficits and reduced gray matter in the PFC. The Val variant of COMT ValMet polymorphism is associated with reduced dopaminergic signaling in the PFC. However, it is unclear how COMT ValMet modulates PFC gray matter reduction, EF deficits and symptom severity at the time of the first psychotic episode.

Metabolic polygenic risk scores effect on antipsychotic-induced metabolic dysregulation: A longitudinal study in a first episode psychosis cohort.

Objective: Metabolic syndrome is a health-threatening condition suffered by approximately one third of schizophrenia patients and largely attributed to antipsychotic medication. Previous evidence reports a common genetic background of psychotic and metabolic disorders. In this study, we aimed to assess the role of polygenic risk scores (PRSs) on the progression of the metabolic profile in a first-episode psychosis (FEP) cohort.

Clinical and treatment predictors of relapse during a three-year follow-up of a cohort of first episodes of schizophrenia.

Relapses are frequent in the first years following a first episode of schizophrenia (FES), being associated with a higher risk of developing a chronic psychotic disorder, and poor clinical and functional outcomes. The identification and intervention over factors associated with relapses in these early phases are timely and relevant. In this study, 119 patients in remission after a FES were closely followed over three years.

The role of BDNF and NGF plasma levels in first-episode schizophrenia: A longitudinal study.

Neurotrophins have been proposed to be involved in biological mechanisms which might underlie different clinical outcomes in schizophrenia. The aims of the present study were to examine the BDNF/NGF plasma levels in a cohort of first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients in remission as potential biological predictors of relapse; to study the associations between these neurotrophins and the symptomatology severity through different stages after a FES in two independent cohorts. 2EPs-Cohort: 69 first-episode in clinical remission were included.

Is the effect of cognitive reserve in longitudinal outcomes in first-episode psychoses dependent on the use of cannabis?

Background: Cognitive reserve (CR) is a protective factor against cognitive and functional impairment in first-episode psychosis (FEP). The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in clinical presentation according to the use of cannabis (cannabis users vs non-users) among patients presenting a FEP (non-affective vs affective psychosis), to investigate the impact of CR and cannabis use on several outcomes and to explore the potentially mediatory role played by CR in the relationship between cognitive domains or clinical status and functionality, depending on the use of cannabis.

Methods: Linear regression analysis models were carried out to assess the predictive value of CR on clinical, functional and cognitive variables at baseline and at two-year follow-up.

Multidimensional predictors of negative symptoms in antipsychotic-naive first-episode psychosis.

Background: Despite a large body of schizophrenia research, we still have no reliable predictors to guide treatment from illness onset. The present study aimed to identify baseline clinical or neurobiological factors - including peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels and amygdala or hippocampal relative volumes - that could predict negative symptomatology and persistent negative symptoms in first-episode psychosis after 1 year of follow-up.

Methods: We recruited 50 drug-naive patients with first-episode psychosis and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls to study brain volumes.