Reboxetine and cytochrome P450--comparison with paroxetine treatment in humans.

Objectives: The noradrenaline-selective antidepressant reboxetine in vitro is a weak inhibitor of both cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2D6 and CYP3A4. Thus, in this study the pharmacokinetics of reboxetine in relation to pharmacogenetics and the effects of reboxetine compared to paroxetine treatment on the CYP2D6 and CYP3A4 phenotype were analyzed in healthy control subjects.

Methods: Healthy male volunteers were treated with either 6 mg reboxetine (n = 26) or 30 mg paroxetine (n = 25).

The novel brain-specific tryptophan hydroxylase-2 gene in panic disorder.

Panic disorder is a common psychiatric disorder characterized by recurrent anxiety attacks and anticipatory anxiety. Due to the severity of the symptoms of the panic attacks and the frequent additional occurrence of agoraphobia, panic disorder is an often debilitating disease. Elevation of central serotonin levels by drugs such as clomipramine represents one of the most effective treatment options for panic disorder.

Association of a functional 1019C>G 5-HT1A receptor gene polymorphism with panic disorder with agoraphobia.

Panic disorder is a common anxiety disorder which frequently co-occurs with agoraphobia. A functional promoter polymorphism in the serotonin receptor 1A (5-HT1A) gene has been found to be associated with major depression as well as anxiety- and depression-related personality traits. We investigated a possible association between this 5-HT1A gene promoter polymorphism and panic disorder by genotyping the 1019C>G single nucleotide polymorphism in 134 panic-disorder patients with and without agoraphobia and matched 134 controls.

Pentosidine and N(epsilon)-(carboxymethyl)-lysine in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

Increasing evidence suggests an interaction of oxidative stress and the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGE) in the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease. We studied levels of pentosidine and N(epsilon)-(carboxymethyl)-lysine (CML) in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 15 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), 20 patients with vascular dementia (VD), and 31 control subjects (14 matched for age, and 17 younger patients). AGE protein concentrations in CSF did not differ within controls when divided into two subgroups by age.

[Phosphorus 31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy in schizophrenia research. Pathophysiology of cerebral metabolism of high-energy phosphate and membrane phospholipids].

31Phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-MRS) has gained much interest in schizophrenia research in the last years, since it allows noninvasive measurement of high energy phosphates and phospholipids of the human brain in vivo. Thus, several studies have reported cerebral metabolic differences between patients and healthy controls as well as on lateralization effects and influences of epidemiological and psychopathological factors. This review gives a survey of the potential of 31P-MRS in schizophrenia research and summarizes and comments on the results of preceding studies.