Genetic and functional analyses implicate microRNA 499A in bipolar disorder development.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a complex mood disorder with a strong genetic component. Recent studies suggest that microRNAs contribute to psychiatric disorder development. In BD, specific candidate microRNAs have been implicated, in particular miR-137, miR-499a, miR-708, miR-1908 and miR-2113.

The impact of attachment parameters in childhood on the personality of adults with mental disorders.

Background: Attachment parameters have an effect on later relationship patterns and the development of parameters of self-concept and personality. In the current study the role of attachment parameters on personality dimensions was investigated, especially with respect to personality disorders.

Subjects And Methods: 134 psychiatric inpatients were examined on attachment and personality parameters using the schedule FEB as a questionnaire on the parental attachment and the SKI as a self-concept inventory.

The effects of music therapy on the interaction of the self and emotions-An interim analysis.

Objectives: Music therapy is a well-established non-verbal treatment method in psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine. However, empirical data of its impact on emotion modulation processes and personality dimensions are still sparce. An interesting concept is the use of music for emotion modulation in everyday life.

Hydrogen Sulfide Affects Radical Formation in the Hippocampus of LPS Treated Rats and the Effect of Antipsychotics on Hydrogen Sulfide Forming Enzymes in Human Cell Lines.

Psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and other neuroinflammatory diseases are accompanied by an increase in the oxidative stress and changes in the immune system and in the metabolic, hormonal and neurological components of the central nervous system (CNS). Hydrogen sulfide (HS) is a gaseous molecule that is endogenously produced in the peripheral and central nervous system through cysteine by the following major HS producing enzymes in the brain: cystathionine-γlyase (CSE), cystathionine ß-synthase (CBS) and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (MPST). The physiological effects of HS are broad, with antioxidative properties being a major role in the body.

Gene set enrichment analysis and expression pattern exploration implicate an involvement of neurodevelopmental processes in bipolar disorder.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common and highly heritable disorder of mood. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several independent susceptibility loci. In order to extract more biological information from GWAS data, multi-locus approaches represent powerful tools since they utilize knowledge about biological processes to integrate functional sets of genes at strongly to moderately associated loci.

Internet-Delivered Disease Management for Recurrent Depression: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Strategies to improve the life of patients suffering from recurrent major depression have a high relevance. This study examined the efficacy of 2 Internet-delivered augmentation strategies that aim to prolong symptom-free intervals.

Methods: Efficacy was tested in a 3-arm, multicenter, open-label, evaluator-blind, randomized controlled trial.

Coping with delusions in schizophrenia and affective disorder with psychotic symptoms: the relationship between coping strategies and dimensions of delusion.

Background: Self-generated coping strategies and the enhancement of coping strategies are effective in the treatment of psychotic symptoms. Evaluating these strategies can be of clinical interest to develop better coping enhancement therapies. Cognitive models consider delusions as multidimensional phenomena.

Genome-wide association study reveals two new risk loci for bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common and highly heritable mental illness and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have robustly identified the first common genetic variants involved in disease aetiology. The data also provide strong evidence for the presence of multiple additional risk loci, each contributing a relatively small effect to BD susceptibility. Large samples are necessary to detect these risk loci.

Supportive monitoring and disease management through the internet: an internet-delivered intervention strategy for recurrent depression.

Major depression is a highly prevalent, disabling disorder associated with loss of quality of life and large economic burden for the society. Depressive disorders often follow a chronic or recurrent course. The risk of relapses increases with each additional episode.

Heidelberg Coping Scales for Delusions: psychometric evaluation of an expert rating instrument.

Background: Coping is of substantial relevance in the treatment and course of psychiatric disorders. Standardized instruments to assess coping with psychotic symptoms, particularly delusions, are rare. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a new instrument to assess coping strategies in the context of delusional experiences: the Heidelberg Coping Scales for Delusions (HCSD).

Genome-wide association study identifies genetic variation in neurocan as a susceptibility factor for bipolar disorder.

We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and a follow-up study of bipolar disorder (BD), a common neuropsychiatric disorder. In the GWAS, we investigated 499,494 autosomal and 12,484 X-chromosomal SNPs in 682 patients with BD and in 1300 controls. In the first follow-up step, we tested the most significant 48 SNPs in 1729 patients with BD and in 2313 controls.

Psychometric evaluation of the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales.

Background: The aims of this study were to examine the psychometric properties of a German version of the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS) in a sample of patients with schizophrenic spectrum disorders and affective disorders with delusions and to validate subscales of the PSYRATS with other ratings of psychotic symptoms.

Sampling And Methods: Two hundred patients with schizophrenic spectrum disorder and affective disorders with delusions were examined. Psychometric properties of the PSYRATS items and scales were determined, and the scores of the PSYRATS scales and subscales were compared to the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and other ratings of psychotic symptoms.

The effects of oral contraceptives on detection and pain thresholds as well as headache intensity during menstrual cycle in migraine.

Background: Clinically, oral contraceptives (OC) can influence pain in both migraine headache and temporomandibular pain disorders. Estrogen as an ingredient of OC might be a responsible factor for these observations. We conducted the present study to test whether OC are able to alter the severity of headache attacks as well as the detection or pain thresholds over the course of the menstrual cycle in patients with migraine.

Psychometric evaluation of the characteristics of delusions rating scale as an expert rating scale.

Background: Research suggests delusions may be better viewed as multidimensional rather than dichotomous phenomena. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of a German version of the Characteristics of Delusions Rating Scale (CDRS) as an expert rating scale.

Method: 200 inpatients with schizophrenic spectrum and affective disorders with delusions were assessed with the CDRS and other delusion rating scales.

Dimensions of delusional experience scale: a psychometric evaluation of a german version.

Background: Delusional experience is a fundamental symptom of psychotic illness. Over recent years, a multidimensional perspective has become increasingly important regarding this phenomenon. Several instruments to measure different dimensions of delusions have been constructed.

Impact of haloperidol and quetiapine on the expression of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells.

Antipsychotics are known to alter antioxidant activities in vivo. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine in the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line the impact of a typical (haloperidol) and an atypical (quetiapine) antipsychotic on the expression of genes encoding the key enzymes of the antioxidant metabolism (Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase; Mn superoxide dismutase; glutathione peroxidase; catalase) and enzymes of the glutathione metabolism (gamma-glutamyl cysteine synthetase, glutathione-S-transferase, gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase, glutathione reductase). The cells were incubated for 24h with 0.

Relationships among endocrine and signaling-related responses to antidepressants in human monocytic U-937 blood cells: analysis of factors and response patterns.

Objective: Antidepressants (AD) (desipramine, imipramine, maprotiline, mirtazapine) and corticosteroid (CS) were examined for their effects on gene expression in human monocytic U-937 blood cells. Endocrine and signaling-related response patterns were determined by expression analysis of different factors, comprising endocrine (glucocorticoid receptor [GR], GR-alpha/beta/gamma; mineralocorticoid receptor [MR]) and signaling-related pathways (p105, STAT3, c-jun, c-fos, JNK1, GAPDH, TNF-alpha).

Methods: A semiquantitative RT-PCR for factor responses after 24 h of treatment was conducted and exploratory multivariate statistical procedures were applied for further analysis.

Effects of antidepressants on mRNA levels of antioxidant enzymes in human monocytic U-937 cells.

Alterations of antioxidant enzyme activities have been described in a number of psychiatric disorders including major depression. Subsequently, the present study examined the effects of different types of antidepressants (desipramine, imipramine, maprotiline and mirtazapine) in different concentrations (10(-5), 10(-6) and 10(-7) M) on the mRNA levels of various enzymes of the antioxidant system, including both intracellular superoxide dismutase isoforms, glutathione peroxidase and catalase as well as several enzymes of the glutathione metabolism in monocytic U-937 cells after short- and long-term treatment (2.5 and 24 h) via RT-PCR.

Effects of haloperidol, clozapine and olanzapine on the survival of human neuronal and immune cells in vitro.

Cytotoxic effects on neuronal as well as on immune cells have been reported for both typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs. We evaluated the effects of different concentrations of a typical (haloperidol) and two atypical (clozapine, olanzapine) antipsychotics on the survival of human neuronal (SH-SY5Y cells) and immune cells (U937 cells) by determining the metabolic activity after 24 h of incubation by the modified tetrazolium method. The dopaminergic neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y and the lymphoma U-937 cell line are well established models for in vitro investigations.

Immune-endocrine host response to endotoxin in major depression.

Objective: An impaired hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) function is a well-established finding in major depression (MD), but it is still unclear how this dysfunction affects immune responses in this disorder.

Method: To further examine the relationship between immune and endocrine responses in MD, 0.4ng/kg body weight endotoxin [LPS] or 100mug hCRH were sequentially applied to 12 patients with MD and to 12 age- and gender-matched healthy controls after pre-treatment with 1.

Effects of oxidative challenge and calcium on ATP-levels in neuronal cells.

Background: Neurocellular overload with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) induces oxidative stress and may initiate a cascade of intracellular toxic events leading to energy failure, increased lipid peroxidation and subsequently cell death. Studies suggest that hippocampal neurons may be more vulnerable to oxidative stress than cortical cells pointing to a differential vulnerability of neuronal cells. Since disturbed ATP- and calcium (Ca2+)-metabolism may be involved in this process, we here evaluated the effects of H2O2-induced oxidative stress and the involvement of Ca2+-regulation on neuronal energy metabolism.

Meta-analysis on the effect of the N363S polymorphism of the glucocorticoid receptor gene (GRL) on human obesity.

Background: Since both excess glucocorticoid secretion and central obesity are clinical features of some obese patients, it is worthwhile to study a possible association of glucocorticoid receptor gene (GRL) variants with obesity. Previous studies have linked the N363S variant of the GRL gene to increased glucocorticoid effects such as higher body fat, a lower lean-body mass and a larger insulin response to dexamethasone. However, contradictory findings have been also reported about the association between this variant and obesity phenotypes.