Effects of Haloperidol, Risperidone, and Aripiprazole on the Immunometabolic Properties of BV-2 Microglial Cells.

Microglial cells are resident macrophages in the brain that have been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. There is a lack of studies covering the effects of antipsychotics on microglial cells. The current literature points to a possible anti-inflammatory action without clear mechanisms of action.

Prescribing patterns in adolescent psychiatric practice: an important role of antipsychotics.

Background: Many adolescents affected by psychiatric disorders require pharmacological treatment. Knowing which medication is being used is of utmost importance. Our main objective was to gain insight into prescribing patterns at the Department of child and adolescent psychiatry, Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka.

Retrospective Analysis of the Effectiveness and Tolerability of Long-Acting Paliperidone Palmitate Antipsychotic in Adolescent First-Episode Schizophrenia Patients.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the effectiveness and tolerability of long-acting paliperidone palmitate antipsychotic in adolescent first-episode schizophrenia patients while comparing the results with the oral antipsychotic risperidone.

Methods: This study is a retrospective, noninterventional study to assess the effectiveness and tolerability of long-acting injectable antipsychotic paliperidone palmitate in first-episode adolescent patients during the first 12 months of treatment compared with the oral antipsychotic risperidone. The data include general sociodemographic characteristics, number of hospitalizations, side effects, and the following clinical scales: Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP), Clinical Global Impression Improvement and Severity (CGI-I and CGI-S), and Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM).

Effects of Psychosocial Day Care Programme on Quality of Life in Patients Affected with Schizophrenia - a Prospective Study.

Background: The basic aim of this prospective research was to establish the effect of psychosocial day care programme on the therapy outcomes in patients with schizophrenia.

Subjects And Methods: While 115 patients with schizophrenia were invited to participate, 100 of them completed the study and were subdivided into two groups. In addition to pharmacotherapy, the experimental group only (N=50) was integrated into a day-hospital-based psychosocial day care programme.

Cortical gray matter loss in schizophrenia: Could microglia be the culprit?

Cortical gray matter loss in schizophrenia remains a great therapeutic difficulty. Each psychotic episode causes irreversible cortical gray matter loss, that causes the patients to never regain their previous state of functioning. Microglial cells are part of the innate immune system and their functions, among others, include phagocytosis and release of neurotrophic factors.

Virus etiology of schizophrenia: the characteristics of the "*Little Ice Age" and its consequences.

The data of the "Little Ice Age" (1500-1850) in Croatia and those which applied to human health were especially emphasized were analyzed. They are some which stand out like: importance of the sort of soil and relief, the influence of cutting down of woods and cattle-breeding and especially the war which lasted for 250 years in the territory of Croatia. The important interactions between those parameters were defined.

Psychiatric and health impact of primary and secondary traumatization in wives of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Background: Along with primary traumatization, wives of PTSD-diagnosed war veterans often become victims of the altered and dysfunctional state of their partners, which adds to the severity of symptoms of primary traumatization and furthers the development of other mental disorders. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of primary and secondary traumatization in wives of PTSD-diagnosed war veterans and wives of war veterans without PTSD.

Subjects And Methods: The experimental group consisted of 154 wives whose veteran husbands had been treated in Mostar Clinical Hospital for psychotrauma-induced PTSD.

Stigmatization of patients suffering from schizophrenia.

For the general public, but also for healthcare professionals, schizophrenia is still one of those areas of medicine connected with feelings of unease, fear and prejudice. These feelings lead to stigmatization and discrimination which are unjust processes which put patients suffering from mental illnesses into undesirable and unequal positions. Aim of this research was to establish the extent of stigmatization of mentally ill patients among the population of healthcare professionals and future healthcare professionals and if they differ from general population.

Influence of personality traits on sexual functioning of patients suffering from schizophrenia or depression.

Aim of this research was to establish effects and influence of personality traits on sexual functioning of schizophrenic and depressive patients, compared to healthy individuals. 300 participants were included in this research. For patients suffering from schizophrenia it was established that the more they are open to experience and the less they are neurotic their sexual drive is stronger.

Defense mechanisms in alcohol dependent patients with oral and oropharinegal cancer.

The effects of psychological factors in alcoholics with malignant tumor of the oral cavity and oropharynx are scarcely explored. The aim of the research was to examine early family relations and investigate differences in the use of defense mechanisms in alcohol dependent patients suffering from malignant tumor of the oral cavity and oropharynx compared to alcohol dependent persons without malignant tumors and healthy controls. The research included 51 alcohol dependent patients treated for malignant tumor of the oral cavity and oropharynx at the University Hospital Center Rijeka from 2005 to 2009.

Health-related quality of life in the patients on maintenance hemodialysis: the analysis of demographic and clinical factors.

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among hemodialysis (HD) patients recently became a nephrologist's focus of interest. HRQoL is an important predictor of outcome in HD patients and need to be regularly assessed. The aim of the present study was to compare the HRQoL of chronic HD patients with general population and to analyze influencing sociodemographic and clinical factors.

Croatian war veterans in print media in 1996 and in 2006.

Introduction: The media have an important role in maintaining and creating social relations and social environment. This especially refers to the war and post-war period in which the media can form a part of the prevention context, i.e.

High doses alprazolam induced amenorrhoea and galactorrhoea.

Alprazolam belongs in the group of anxiolytics, medicaments used for reducing anxiety. As most other drugs, it can cause various adverse events, including hormonal disturbances and imbalance. Prolactin elevation is one such hormonal adverse event that can lead to galactorrhoea, or abnormal milk discharge from the breast and amenorrhoea.

Ziprasidone as a possible cause of cleft palate in a newborn.

Use of antipsychotic medication during the entire course of pregnancy in patients suffering from schizophrenia is frequently necessary as discontinuation of therapy can lead to relapse of the illness which can be far more severe for the mother, but also for the fetus. That is the case why third generation antipsychotics, so called atypical antipsychotics, are also being used during the pregnancy, but their effects are not fully researched. Use of ziprasidone as a third generation antipsychotic, and its effects during the pregnancy in patients suffering from various mental illnesses is very rarely described in scientific literature.

Pregnancy and atypical antipsychotics.

Scientific research aiming at discovering new generations of effective medications is a common practice in medicine, and psychiatric research is no exception. Antipsychotics are used to treat chronic mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. The new generation of antipsychotics (atypicals) gradually reveal their advantages in comparison to the older generation of antipsychotics (conventional, typicals) and are increasingly applied to the everyday practice.

Changes of adolescents' defence mechanisms during the first year of high school education.

The goal of this study was to analyse the defence mechanism's changes during adolescent's adaptation to the new schooling terms at the first year in high school. Sample of 266 students, mean age 15, have been included in the research. Kellerman's Life Style Questionnaire (LSQ) was administred for measuring defence mechanisms at the beginning and at the end of the school year.