Dexmedetomidine and Nitrous Oxide as Anesthetic Agents for Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Case Report.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a therapeutic intervention that induces generalized seizures under general anesthesia. This case report compares the efficacy of dexmedetomidine (DEX) and nitrous oxide (N2O) to that of propofol during ECT procedures. A 33-year-old woman with a 15-year history of schizophrenia and recurrent psychotic episodes underwent ECT.

Efficacy and Safety of Lurasidone vs. Quetiapine XR in Acutely Psychotic Patients With Schizophrenia in Korea: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Active-Controlled Trial.

Objective: This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of lurasidone (160 mg/day) compared to quetiapine XR (QXR; 600 mg/day) in the treatment of acutely psychotic patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to 6 weeks of double-blind treatment with lurasidone 160 mg/day (n=105) or QXR 600 mg/day (n=105). Primary efficacy measure was the change from baseline to week 6 in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score and Clinical Global Impressions severity (CGI-S) score.

The Mediating Role of Anxiety/Depression Between Auditory Verbal Hallucinations and the Level of Insight in Schizophrenia.

Objective: Auditory verbal hallucination (AVH) is a prominent symptom of schizophrenia causing profound distress. The influence of AVHs on insight appears to be intricate and contingent on other accompanying symptoms. This study investigated the relationship and possible mediators between AVHs and the degree of insight.

Change in absolute neutrophil count after COVID-19 infection in patients using clozapine versus other antipsychotics.

It was reported that patients who contracted COVID-19 while taking clozapine exhibited a distinct hematological response. However, the absence of control groups made it difficult to attribute it to clozapine. The changes in absolute neutrophil counts (ANCs) during the 4 weeks after COVID-19 infection were compared between the two groups of patients with severe mental illnesses (SMIs) (49 patients using clozapine and 54 using other antipsychotics) using generalized additive modeling.

Effects of Long-acting Injectable 3-Monthly Paliperidone Palmitate on the Clinical and Social Performance of Patients with Schizophrenia.

Objective: To investigate the effects of long-acting injectable 3-monthly paliperidone palmitate on the clinical and social functioning of patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: This study enrolled patients with schizophrenia receiving long-acting injectable 1-monthly paliperidone palmitate for at least 4 months and who subsequently received 3-monthly paliperidone palmitate. Accordingly, 418 patients were followed up for 24 weeks.

Recent Updates on Electro-Convulsive Therapy in Patients with Depression.

Objective: Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) has been established as a treatment modality for patients with treatment-resistant depression and with some specific subtypes of depression. This narrative review intends to provide psychiatrists with the latest findings on the use of ECT in depression, devided into total eight sub-topics.

Methods: We searched PubMed for English-language articles using combined keywords and tried to analyze journals published from 1995-2020.

Initial Seizure Threshold in Brief-Pulse Bilateral Electroconvulsive Therapy in Patients with Schizophrenia or Schizoaffective Disorder.

Objective: The present study aimed to report the initial seizure threshold (IST) of a brief-pulse bilateral electroconvulsive therapy (BP-BL ECT) in Korean patients with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder and to identify IST predictors.

Methods: Among 67 patients who received ECT and diagnosed with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder based on the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, we included 56 patients who received 1-millisecond BP-BL ECT after anesthesia with sodium thiopental between March 2012 and June 2018. Demographic and clinical information was gathered from electronic medical records, and a multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify predictors of the IST.

Differences between self-reported and clinician-rated evaluations of 1-year changes in auditory verbal hallucinations among schizophrenia patients.

Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) constitute a frequent and distressing symptom of schizophrenia, associated with physical, emotional, and cognitive challenges. Despite their clinical importance, changes in the multiple dimensions of AVHs during treatment have rarely been examined, and subjective views thereof have received minimal attention. Here, we evaluated 87 patients with schizophrenia-related AVHs using the Hamilton Program for Schizophrenia Voices Questionnaire (HPSVQ; a self-report questionnaire) and the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales-Auditory Hallucination Subscale (PSYRATS-AH; a clinician-rated scale) at baseline and after 6 months and 1 year of treatment.

Long-term clinical efficacy of maintenance electroconvulsive therapy in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia on clozapine.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been suggested as a treatment for augmenting the response to clozapine in patients that do not respond well to clozapine alone and maintenance ECT (M-ECT) had also been recommended to sustain improvement. This retrospective study of up to 2 years of observation was conducted to explore whether M-ECT is beneficial for long-term maintenance of the symptom remission elicited by acute ECT. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) were plotted for each patient and compared using a linear mixed-effect model.

Long-Term Changes in Self-Report Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Patients with Schizophrenia Using Clozapine.

This study explored long-term changes in self-report auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) among patients with schizophrenia taking clozapine. Forty-four patients who were evaluated more than twice and were above the mild severity category on the Hamilton Program for Schizophrenia Voices Questionnaire (HPSVQ) were enrolled. The mean observation period was 492.

Association between electroencephalogram changes and plasma clozapine levels in clozapine-treated patients.

This retrospective observational study was performed to investigate electroencephalogram abnormalities in clozapine-treated patients with refractory schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The electroencephalogram and plasma clozapine and norclozapine levels in 71 patients were measured on the same day. Fifty-nine patients (85.

Combination of Electroconvulsive Therapy and Clozapine in Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and tolerability of the combination of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in patients with clozapine-treated schizophrenia.

Methods: Patients with clozapine-treated schizophrenia during five years of pre-determined period were recruited from Electronic Medical Record. Clinical effects of acute ECT on psychotic symptoms were investigated.

Long-Term Evolution of Metabolic Status in Patients with Schizophrenia Stably Maintained on Second-Generation Antipsychotics.

Objective: Second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) increase the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Despite the risk of MetS, SGAs may have to be continued with change in some patients. The aim of this study was to trace the evolution of MetS in these patients.

Comparison of clinician-rated and self-report insight in Korean patients with schizophrenia using VAGUS insight scale.

This study was aimed to explore self-report auditory verbal hallucinations to provide unique and valuable information in addition to clinician-rated assessment in patients with schizophrenia. The VAGUS (http://www.vagusonline.

Effectiveness of Electroconvulsive Therapy Augmentation on Clozapine-Resistant Schizophrenia.

Objective: This retrospective case series study of the effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) augmentation on clozapine-resistant schizophrenia was conducted by EMR review.

Methods: Clozapine-resistance was defined as persistent psychotic symptoms despite at least 12 weeks of clozapine administration with blood levels over 350 ng/mL in order to rule out pseudo-resistance. Seven in-patients who were taking clozapine and treated with ECT were selected.

Clozapine Improves Memory Impairment and Reduces Aβ Level in the Tg-APPswe/PS1dE9 Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative condition. In order to treat AD, the use of a "drug repositioning" or "repurposing" approach with potential disease-modifying compounds has been increased. The new generation antipsychotics are commonly used in AD and other dementias for the treatment of psychosis and behavioral symptoms, and several animal models have shown the effects of these potential disease-modifying compounds.

Prevalence and Correlates of DSM-IV Mental Disorders in South Korean Adults: The Korean Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study 2011.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and correlates of mental disorders in Korean adults.

Methods: Door to door household surveys were conducted with community residents aged 18-74 years from July 19, 2011, to November 16, 2011 (n=6,022, response rate 78.7%).

Optimal ligand descriptor for pocket recognition based on the Beta-shape.

Structure-based virtual screening is one of the most important and common computational methods for the identification of predicted hit at the beginning of drug discovery. Pocket recognition and definition is frequently a prerequisite of structure-based virtual screening, reducing the search space of the predicted protein-ligand complex. In this paper, we present an optimal ligand shape descriptor for a pocket recognition algorithm based on the beta-shape, which is a derivative structure of the Voronoi diagram of atoms.

Differences in the internal structure of hallucinatory experiences between clinical and nonclinical populations.

We investigated differential patterns of hallucinatory experiences between nonclinical and clinical samples. A total of 223 nonclinical individuals (108 females) and 111 subjects with schizophrenia (54 females) completed the Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale-Revised (LSHS-R) and Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS). The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) was used for the nonclinical group, and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) hallucination item was used for the clinical group.

Clozapine induces chloride channel-4 expression through PKA activation and modulates CDK5 expression in SH-SY5Y and U87 cells.

Objectives: Second-generation antipsychotic drugs, such as clozapine, were reported to enhance neurite outgrowth by nerve growth factor in PC12 cells. The authors previously showed that chloride channel 4 (CLC-4) is responsible for nerve growth factor-induced neurite outgrowth in neuronal cells. In this study, we examined whether clozapine induces CLC-4 in neuroblastoma and glioma cells.

The acute and long-term effectiveness of amisulpride in patients with schizophrenia: results of a 12-month open-label prospective follow-up study.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of amisulpride in acute (up to 8 weeks) and maintenance (week 8 to 12 months) phases of a 12-month course of treatment in a heterogeneous group of patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: We conducted a 12-month, open-label clinical trial with flexible doses of amisulpride among 129 Korean patients with schizophrenia. The Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) and several other scales measuring efficacy and tolerability were analyzed during the acute and maintenance phases.

BetaDock: shape-priority docking method based on beta-complex.

This paper presents an approach and a software, BetaDock, to the docking problem by putting the priority on shape complementarity between a receptor and a ligand. The approach is based on the theory of the β-complex. Given the Voronoi diagram of the receptor whose topology is stored in the quasi-triangulation, the β-complex corresponding to water molecule is computed.

Lifetime risk and age of onset distributions of psychiatric disorders: analysis of national sample survey in South Korea.

Background: The present study represents the first attempt at examining variation across Korean cohorts with respect to lifetime risk of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders.

Aims: To present data on lifetime prevalence and projected lifetime risk, as well as age of onset (AOO) and demographic correlates of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders as assessed in the nationwide survey of a representative sample of Korean adults.

Method: The survey was based on a multistage area probability sample of non-institutionalized Koreans aged 18-64 years.

Gender-specific association of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Objective: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with a strong genetic component. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which participates in the differentiation and survival of dopaminergic and noradrenergic neurons, could play a role in ADHD development. We aimed to explore the relationships between ADHD and BDNF gene polymorphism.