Publications by authors named "Armando L Morera-Fumero"

The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin that has been linked to the schizophrenia neurodevelopmental hypothesis.

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Psychotic disorders can have a primary or secondary origin. Primary psychosis includes pathologies such as paranoid schizophrenia, acute psychotic episodes, schizoaffective disorder, and other chronic psychiatric disorders. However, in secondary psychosis, there is an organic cause that explains the appearance of psychotic symptoms, such as those secondary to the consumption of psychoactive substances or some neurological or systemic diseases.

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Objective: The s100b inflammatory protein is involved in schizophrenia pathophysiology. We aim at studying the evolution of the s100b serum levels in acutely relapsed paranoid schizophrenia patients at three different time points (admission, discharge and 3 months after hospital discharge 3MAHD).

Methods: Twenty-three paranoid schizophrenia inpatients meeting DSM-IV criteria participated in the research.

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Healthy subjects present higher summer than winter S100B protein concentrations. There is no available information regarding if schizophrenia patients present the same pattern. The aim of this research is to study if patients with schizophrenia present seasonal changes in serum S100B concentrations.

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Background: Hypnotics (HYP) and benzodiazepines (BZD) are medicines prescribed for the insomnia treatment. Many patients present difficulties in discontinuing the treatment once established. Melatonin (MLT) has been prescribed as a treatment for BZD/HYP detoxification.

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Free radicals and an oxidant/antioxidant imbalance have been involved in the schizophrenia pathophysiology. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) is a measure of the antioxidant capacity of a system. Day/night changes are a biological characteristic of hormones such as melatonin or cortisol.

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Background: Seasonal and circadian changes are two factors described to affect blood levels of some biological molecules. The Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) is one global measure of the antioxidant capacity of a system. There is no agreement about the existence of day/night changes in TAC levels as well as there is no information about seasonal changes in TAC levels.

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Unlabelled: There are day/night and seasonal changes in biological markers such as melatonin and cortisol. Controversial changes in serum S100B protein levels have been described in schizophrenia. We aim studying whether serum S100B levels present day/night variations in schizophrenia patients and whether S100B levels are related to psychopathology.

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Background: An oxidant-antioxidant system dysregulation has been described as a schizophrenia pathophysiological base. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) is one measure of the antioxidant capacity of a system. Day/night concentration changes is a biological characteristic of hormones such as melatonin or cortisol.

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Background: The search for biological markers of individual characteristics has produced scanty results. Melatonin (MLT), the main hormonal product of the pineal gland, has been used as a biological marker of neuroticism, introversion-extroversion and morningness-eveningness. Morningness-eveningness indicates preferences associated with morning or evening activities.

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Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disease that disturbs several cognitive functions, such as memory, thought, perception and volition. Schizophrenia's biological etiology is multifactorial and is still under investigation. Melatonin has been involved in schizophrenia since the first decades of the twentieth century.

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Background: S100B is a calcium binding protein that can be measured in cerebral and extra cerebral biological tissues and fluids. Circadian and seasonal variations have been described in several biological molecules such as melatonin, cortisol and testosterone. Healthy subjects do not have a circadian rhythm of S100B.

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The research for peripheral biological markers of schizophrenia, although abundant, has been unfruitful. In the last 2 decades, the S100B protein has made its own room in this area of research. S100B is a calcium-binding protein that has been proposed as a marker of astrocyte activation and brain dysfunction.

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