Youth Depression Alleviation with Anti-inflammatory Agents (YoDA-A): a randomised clinical trial of rosuvastatin and aspirin.

Background: Inflammation contributes to the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD), and anti-inflammatory strategies might therefore have therapeutic potential. This trial aimed to determine whether adjunctive aspirin or rosuvastatin, compared with placebo, reduced depressive symptoms in young people (15-25 years).

Methods: YoDA-A, Youth Depression Alleviation with Anti-inflammatory Agents, was a 12-week triple-blind, randomised, controlled trial.

An update on adjunctive treatment options for bipolar disorder.

Objectives: Bipolar disorder is a complex illness often requiring combinations of therapies to successfully treat symptoms. In recent years, there have been significant advancements in a number of therapies for bipolar disorder. It is therefore timely to provide an overview of current adjunctive therapeutic options to help treating clinicians to inform their patients and work towards optimal outcomes.

Youth Depression Alleviation-Augmentation with an anti-inflammatory agent (YoDA-A): protocol and rationale for a placebo-controlled randomized trial of rosuvastatin and aspirin.

Aim: There is growing support for the role of inflammation and oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). This has led to the development of novel strategies targeting inflammation in the treatment of depression. Rosuvastatin and aspirin have well-documented, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Selective augmentation of striatal functional connectivity following NMDA receptor antagonism: implications for psychosis.

The psychotomimetic effect of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist ketamine is thought to arise from a functional modulation of the brain's fronto-striato-thalamic (FST) circuits. Animal models suggest a pronounced effect on ventral 'limbic' FST systems, although recent work in patients with psychosis and high-risk individuals suggests specific alterations of dorsal 'associative' FST circuits. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the effects of a subanesthetic dose of ketamine on measures of functional connectivity as indexed by the temporal coherence of spontaneous neural activity in both dorsal and ventral FST circuits, as well as their symptom correlates.

Hyponatraemia: an audit of aged psychiatry patients taking SSRIs and SNRIs.

Objective: Hyponatraemia is a serious adverse event commonly reported in elderly people treated with serotonergic antidepressants. The mechanism, incidence and risk factors for antidepressant induced hyponatraemia are not fully understood.

Method: In a retrospective chart analysis, depressed patients aged >63 years were investigated for change in serum sodium levels between two time points, separated by a median period of 45.

Minocycline: therapeutic potential in psychiatry.

Pharmacological interventions to treat psychiatric illness have previously focused on modifying dysfunctional neurotransmitter systems to improve symptoms. However, imperfect understanding of the aetiology of these heterogeneous syndromes has been associated with poor treatment outcomes for many individuals. Growing evidence suggests that oxidative stress, inflammation, changes in glutamatergic pathways and neurotrophins play important roles in many psychiatric illnesses including mood disorders, schizophrenia and addiction.

The role of alprazolam for the treatment of panic disorder in Australia.

Objective: To investigate the potential impact of increasing prescription rates of alprazolam for the treatment of panic disorder (PD) in Australia through a review of efficacy, tolerability and adverse outcome literature.

Methods: Data were sourced by a literature search using MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and a manual search of scientific journals to identify relevant articles. Clinical practice guidelines from the American Psychiatric Association, National Institute of Clinical Excellence, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists and World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry were sourced.

A consensus statement for safety monitoring guidelines of treatments for major depressive disorder.

Objective: This paper aims to present an overview of screening and safety considerations for the treatment of clinical depressive disorders and make recommendations for safety monitoring.

Method: Data were sourced by a literature search using MEDLINE and a manual search of scientific journals to identify relevant articles. Draft guidelines were prepared and serially revised in an iterative manner until all co-authors gave final approval of content.

Ketamine perturbs perception of the flow of time in healthy volunteers.

Rationale: Disturbances in the subjective experience of time have been observed both in schizophrenia and following acute administration of ketamine. However, effects of ketamine on more objective timing tasks have not yet been measured in humans, nor has it been established that timing effects are not merely secondary to a more general dysfunction in working memory (WM).

Objective And Methods: In a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study, we characterised the effects of ketamine (100 ng/ml blood plasma level) on performance of perceptual timing and colour discrimination tasks, which were matched for WM and attentional demands.

Incomplete excision of basal cell carcinoma: a prospective trial.

Background: As a measure of the standard of surgical care, incomplete excision of skin malignancy is an important clinical indicator, developed by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards. Reported rates of incomplete excision of basal cell carcinoma vary widely (5 to 25 percent) among centers worldwide. This prospective study reports on the incidence of incomplete excision at a tertiary referral public hospital and determines the factors that may influence this.

Incomplete excision of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin: a prospective observational study.

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common cancer of the skin. It behaves differently from basal cell carcinoma. Few large-scale studies have identified risk factors for incomplete excision of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

Clinical diagnosis of skin tumours: how good are we?

Background: Few studies have addressed the accuracy of clinical diagnosis of skin malignancies. The present prospective study aims to determine the accuracy with which these lesions are diagnosed and attempts to identify the factors influencing the accuracy of clinical diagnosis.

Methods: All patients undergoing surgical excision of a skin cancer with curative intent from January 2001 to December 2002 at Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, Melbourne, Australia were prospectively studied.