Childbirth and mental disorders.

This review approaches the topic of childbirth and mental illness using a model of perinatal health which takes into consideration the multiple determinants of health, approached from a lifespan perspective. The paper seeks to answer four broad questions using this model and available literature: (1) What is the relationship between childbirth and mental disorders? (2) How common are mental disorders during childbearing, and what is the perinatal course of illness? (3) What are the effects of mental illness during childbearing on foetal and infant developmental outcomes? (4) How do you approach the detection and treatment of mental disorders during the perinatal period?

Schizophrenia (maintenance treatment).

Introduction: One in a hundred people will develop schizophrenia; about 75% of people have relapses and continued disability, and a third fail to respond to standard treatment. Positive symptoms include auditory hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorder. Negative symptoms (demotivation, self-neglect, and reduced emotion) have not been consistently improved by any treatment.

Agrin and laminin induce acetylcholine receptor clustering by convergent, Rho GTPase-dependent signaling pathways.

During neuromuscular junction formation, extracellular matrix-mediated signals cause muscle surface acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) to aggregate at synaptic sites. Two extracellular matrix proteins, agrin and laminin, have each been shown to initiate signaling pathways that culminate in AChR clustering in cultured muscle cells. Here we present evidence that laminin-induced AChR clustering is mediated by the activation of the Rho GTPases Cdc42, Rac and Rho.