[Clinical and psychopathological characteristics of patients with late-onset schizophrenia and schizophrenia-like psychoses in clusters identified by biological parameters].

Objective: To assess clinical and psychopathological characteristics of late-aged female patients with late-onset psychoses in clusters formed on the basis of biochemical and immunological blood parameters.

Material And Methods: We examined 59 women with schizophrenia and schizophrenia-like psychoses with onset after 40 years (ICD-10 F20, F22.8, F25, F23, F06.

Late onset psychosis treatment with adjunctive medicines.

Background: A number of studies have shown the feasibility of using adjunctive drugs in late onset psychosis (LOP).

Aim: Testing hypothesis that among LOP people treated with antipsychotics and antidepressants, basing on certain clinical characteristics a subgroup of patients might be distinguished, for whom adjunctive therapy is advantageous. This subgroup might be identified by measurement of blood biochemical parameters.

Differentiated Approach to Pharmacotherapy of Autism Spectrum Disorders: Biochemical Aspects.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are highly heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorders caused by a complex interaction of numerous genetic and environmental factors and leading to deviations in the nervous system formation at the very early developmental stages. Currently, there are no accepted pharmacological treatments for the so-called core symptoms of ASD, such as social communication disorders and restricted and repetitive behavior patterns. Lack of knowledge about biological basis of ASD, absence of the clinically significant biochemical parameters reflecting abnormalities in the signaling cascades controlling the nervous system development and functioning, and lack of methods for selection of clinically and biologically homogeneous subgroups are considered as causes for the failure of clinical trials of ASD pharmacotherapy.

[Activity of enzymes of glutamate, energy and glutathione metabolism in the first juvenile depression with attenuated symptoms of schizophrenia].

Objective: To reveal clinical and biological correlations in patients with attenuated symptoms of schizophrenia in the first juvenile depression, namely, the correlation between SOPS and HDRS-21 scores and the levels of activities of glutathione, glutamate and energy metabolism enzymes in the blood of patients.

Material And Methods: The study included 81 young men, aged 16-25 years, with the first depressive episode (ICD-10 items F32.1, F32.

Links of platelet glutamate and glutathione metabolism with attenuated positive and negative symptoms in depressed patients at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Aim of the study is to reveal clinical and biological correlations in patients with adolescent depression and attenuated psychotic symptoms. Activity of platelet enzymes involved in glutamate-, glutathione- and energy metabolism was evaluated in control group and in the patients, because these systems are suspected as related to pathogenesis of psychosis. Adolescents (78 men, 16-25 years old) hospitalized with the first acute depressive state composed two groups: with prevalence of attenuated psychotic positive or negative symptoms (Gr1 and Gr2, 48 and 30 patients, respectively).

[Platelet glutathione reductase and glutathione-S-transferase in elderly patients with depression].

Objective: To compare the activity of platelet glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) in elderly patients with depression and in the control group, and to identify a possible relationship between the activity of these enzymes and clinical parameters of the disease.

Material And Methods: We examined 42 elderly patients (60-86 years old) with depressive episodes of various nosological categories according to ICD-10: a single depressive episode (F32.0, F32.

Protein Phosphorylation Signaling Cascades in Autism: The Role of mTOR Pathway.

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway is a central regulator of cell metabolism, growth, and survival in response to hormones, growth factors, nutrients, and stress-induced signals. In this review, we analyzed the studies on the molecular abnormalities of the mTOR-associated signaling cascades in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and outlined the prospects for the pathogenicity-targeting pharmacotherapeutic approaches to ASDs, in particular syndromic ASDs. Based on available experimental and clinical data, we suggest that very early detection of molecular abnormalities in the ASD risk groups can be facilitated by using peripheral blood platelets.

[The link of platelet cytochrome C-oxidase activity with some clinical parameters of depression in elderly patients].

Objective: To search for correlations between platelet cytochrome c-oxidase (COX) activity and the quality of therapeutic outcomes and other clinical parameters of depression in elderly patients.

Material And Methods: Twenty elderly women, aged 55-78 years, with depressive episodes in recurrent depressive disorder (RDD) or bipolar affective disorder (BD) were studied. COX activity and severity of depression were evaluated twice: before the beginning of antidepressant treatment and at the 28-th day of the therapy, using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A).

Platelet glutamate dehydrogenase activity and efficacy of antipsychotic therapy in patients with schizophrenia.

Background: Evaluation of possible relationship between platelet glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) activity and mental state of schizophrenia patients after antipsychotic pharmacotherapy.

Methods: Patients (n = 50) with chronic paranoid schizophrenia (F20.0) initially in acute psychotic state were examined before and after a treatment course with antipsychotics.

Decrease in 130 kDa- amyloid protein precursor protein (APP) and APP protein ratio in schizophrenia platelets.

Cognitive dysfunction is common among people with schizophrenia. The molecular substrates underlying this remain poorly understood. To address this, we analyzed changes in amyloid precursor protein (APP) in platelets of people with acute schizophrenia (n=24) and control subjects (n=20) by ECL-immunoblotting.

[The activity of enzymes of glutathione metabolism in blood cells of patients with a high risk of manifestation of endogenous psychoses and patients with the first psychotic episode].

Aim: To assess the activity of glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) in blood cells of patients at clinical high-risk (HR) state for psychosis, in first-episode patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder (SD), and control group, and to seek correlations of these biochemical parameters with clinical assessments in patients.

Material And Methods: The study included male patients at HR (n=21, 16-25 years old), first-episode patients with schizophrenia (F20, n=14, 18-25 years old) and SD (F25, n=20, 16-25 years old), and 12 people of the control group (19-25 years old). Psychometric scales (SOPS, HDRS, and PANSS) and psychopathological methods were employed.

[Glutathione reductase and glutathione-S-transferase in blood cells in schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders].

Aim: To compare glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) enzymatic activities in blood cells (erythrocytes and platelets) of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and in the control group and to search for correlations of these biochemical parameters with clinical psychiatric assessments of the patient.

Material And Methods: The study included patients (97 men) with schizophrenia spectrum disorder (schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders) in an acute state of exacerbation of psychotic symptoms and 33 men without mental pathology. Symptom severity was measured with the PANSS before and after antipsychotic therapy.

[α-Klotho protein in neurodegenerative and mental diseases].

The review aims to attract attention of psychiatrists and neurologists to a role of α-Klotho protein in biochemical mechanisms that counteract pathogenic processes of neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases and to possible therapeutic potential of the protein. Basing on the analysis of contemporary literature, the authors summarized the results of model experiments and a few clinical trials (in psychiatry and neurology) indicating the role of α-Klotho protein in the brain processes of neurogenesis, dendrite growth, myelination (oligodendroglia differentiation and activity), regulation of antioxidant system, and synthesis of glutamate neurotransmitter system components, regulation of the activity and synthesis of ion channel protein components and membrane transporters, synaptic plasticity. It is concluded that α-Klotho protein can be used for therapeutic purposes in diseases associated with pathological brain aging, and/or in diseases associated with insufficient synthesis of this protein.

[The activity of erythrocyte and platelet glutathione reductase and glutathione-S-transferase in paranoid schizophrenia].

Aim: A comparative evaluation of glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activities in erythrocytes and platelets of patients with schizophrenia.

Material And Methods: Fifty patients, 47 men and 3 women, aged 25-56 years (medium 34) with acute paranoid schizophrenia (F20.0 ICD-10) with hallucinatory-paranoid or paranoid syndrome were studied.

Influence of Al, Fe and Zn Ions on Phosphorylation of Tubulin and Microtubulo-Associated Proteins of Rat Brain.

Phosphorylation of τ-protein, a component of microtubules in brain neurons, is a key pathomorphological sign of Alzheimer's disease. The development of this intracellular defect can be promoted by Al, Fe, and Zn ions. The concentrations of these ions in the brain are considerably elevated in Alzheimer's disease.

Platelet Tau Protein as a Potential Peripheral Biomarker in Alzheimer's Disease: An Explorative Study.

Background: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) measures of tau and amyloid proteins have now been largely accepted to be a diagnostic tool to aid the clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but CSF is not routinely obtained in most clinical settings. There is a need, therefore, to uncover additional readily accessible peripheral biomarkers that will enable comprehensive detection of AD-specific proteins in blood and blood derivates.

Objectives: Blood platelets contain proteins found in neuronal cell lines, including tau protein.

[Comparative study of glutamate dehydrogenase in the brain of patients with schizophrenia and mentally healthy people].

Aim: To compare the glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) activity and amounts of GDHI, GDHII, and GDHIII immunoreactive forms in prefrontal, anterior and posterior cingulate cortex and cerebellar cortex of patients with schizophrenia and control subjects.

Material And Methods: GDH enzymatic activity was measured and levels of GDH immunoreactive forms were determined in extracts of autopsied samples of prefrontal, anterior and posterior cingulate cortex (areas 10, 24, and 23 by Brodmann), and cerebellar cortex of patients with schizophrenia (n=8) and controls (n=9).

Results And Conclusion: GDH enzymatic activity was significantly increased in the prefrontal cortex (area 10) (p<0.

[Creatine kinase isoform B distribution in the brain in schizophrenia].

Aim: To compare patterns of brain isoform creatine phosphokinase (CPK B) distributions in post-mortem brain from patients with schizophrenia (Sch) and patients with somatic diseases (controls).

Material And Methods: Extracts of readily soluble and membrane-associated proteins were prepared from post-mortem samples of prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 10), anterior (area 24) and posterior (area 23) cingulate cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum cortex from patients with Sch and control group (the samples were matched by age and postmortem interval). CPK enzymatic activity was measured by determination of inorganic phosphate, amounts of immunoreative CPK В were estimated by ECL-Western blotting using monoclonal antibodies.

Effect of Aluminum, Iron, and Zinc Ions on the Assembly of Microtubules from Brain Microtubule Proteins.

Al(3+), Fe(3+), and Zn(2+) ions can disturb microtubule assembly from tubulin and microtubuleassociated proteins in rat brain. The main structural forms of these microtubules are rings and tangled bundles. These structures are formed only in the presence of Al(3+) and Fe(3+) ions.

[Glutamate dehydrogenase activity in platelets of patients with endogenous psychosis].

Objective: to evaluation of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) enzymatic activity in platelets of patients with endogenous psychoses.

Material And Methods: Enzymatic cectivity of GDH evaluated in 69 patients with schizophrenia (n=48) or schizoaffective disorder (n=21) in comparison with control group (n=34) and elucidation of possible link between their platelet GDH activity and clinical psychopathological condition.

Results And Conclusion: Generally, GDH activity in patients before antipsychotic treatment was significantly lower, than in control group.

Glutamate and GABA-metabolizing enzymes in post-mortem cerebellum in Alzheimer's disease: phosphate-activated glutaminase and glutamic acid decarboxylase.

Enzymes of glutamate and GABA metabolism in postmortem cerebellum from patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have not been comprehensively studied. The present work reports results of original comparative study on levels of phosphate-activated glutaminase (PAG) and glutamic acid decarboxylase isoenzymes (GAD65/67) in autopsied cerebellum samples from AD patients and matched controls (13 cases in each group) as well as summarizes published evidence for altered levels of PAG and GAD65/67 in AD brain. Altered (decreased) levels of these enzymes and changes in links between amounts of these enzymes and other glutamate-metabolizing enzymes (such as glutamate dehydrogenase and glutamine synthetase-like protein) in AD cerebella suggest significantly impaired glutamate and GABA metabolism in this brain region, which was previously regarded as not substantially involved in AD pathogenesis.

[A role of glutamate decarboxylase in Alzheimer's disease].

Objective: To evaluate the levels of the main GABA synthetic enzyme, glutamate decarboxylase (represented by two isoforms, GAD65 and GAD67) in the cerebellum cortex of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mentally healthy subjects.

Materials And Methods: Samples of the cerebellum cortex from 13 mentally healthy subjects (the control group) and 13 patients with AD were studied. Samples obtained after autopsy were frozen and stored at -80 °C.

Effects of anti-Alzheimer drugs on phosphorylation and assembly of microtubules from brain microtubular proteins.

We studied the effects of anti-Alzheimer drugs (tacrine, amiridine, and memantine) on phosphorylation of tubulin and microtubule-associated proteins isolated from rat brain, evaluated the capacity of these proteins to polymerize into microtubules after addition of study pharmacological agents, and analyzed the structure of generated microtubules. It was shown that test substances impair assembly of microtubules to a different extent. Dose-dependent effects of these agents on phosphorylation of tubulin and microtubule-associated proteins were observed.

[Glutaminase in the cerebellum of patients with Alzheimer's disease: a postmortem brain study].

Phosphate activated glutaminase (PAG) was quantified in human cerebellar cortex extracts in 13 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 13 controls by Western immunoblotting using antibody to C-terminus of PAG kidney isoform. The majority of samples from the AD group contained less amount of PAG in comparison with control samples. Although medians in these groups were slightly different (21 and 28 arbitrary units in AD patients and controls, respectively), the Mann Whitney U-test demonstrated a significant between-group difference (U= 28.

[Platelet cytochrome c-oxidase and glutamine synthetase-like protein in patients with mild cognitive impairment].

The study aimed to develop pre-clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and - in future - preventive therapy in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The MCI group (n=44) and AD group (n=42, including 18 patients with soft dementia and 24 patients with mild dementia) were studied. The groups were matched for age (median 70 and 69 years for MCI and AD groups, respectively).