[Anti-NMDA encephalitis in psychiatry; malignant catatonia, atypical psychosis and ECT].

The symptoms of malignant (lethal) catatonia has been reported similar to initial symptoms of anti-NMDAR encephalitis. Subsequently, this autoimmune limbic encephalitis has been noticed in many psychiatrists. We have experienced several cases with malignant catatonia having anti-NMDAR antibody without clinical signs of encephalitis.

Individual traits and environmental factors influencing sleep timing: a study of 225 Japanese couples.

Behavioral and physiological processes, such as sleep-wakefulness, thermoregulation, and hormone secretion, exhibit 24-h rhythms in most organisms. These biological rhythms are driven by the circadian clock system and are entrained by the external environment, which in the case of humans includes social time schedules. Couples might be ideal experimental subjects to discriminate between individual traits and environmental factors, as they share lifestyle habits but not genetic backgrounds.

Expression profiles of PERIOD1, 2, and 3 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from older subjects.

Aims: Circadian clocks regulate daily rhythms of behavior and physiology such as the sleep-wake cycle and hormonal secretion. Numerous characteristics of the behavioral and physiological processes change with age. In this study, we evaluated the circadian clockwork in older people by measuring daily profiles of PERIOD (PER) gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).

Expression profiles of 10 circadian clock genes in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

The circadian clock system regulates daily rhythms of physiology and behavior. The mammalian master clock in the suprachiasmatic nuclei orchestrates these biological rhythms in peripheral tissues. Since blood is the most accessible tissue source, we sought to dissect the human circadian clock system by characterizing clock gene expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from eight young, healthy subjects.

Dissociation between objective psychomotor impairment and subjective sleepiness after diazepam administration in the aged people.

The aim of the present study was to clarify whether subjective sleepiness accurately reflects benzodiazepine-related decline in psychomotor function after taking benzodiazepines (BZPs) in aged people. Subjects were eight healthy, young (mean age, 19.8 years) and seven healthy, older (mean age, 60.

Enhanced heat loss and age-related hypersensitivity to diazepam.

Whether elderly people suffer from age-related changes in pharmacokinetics and/or pharmacodynamics with administration of benzodiazepines is still a matter of controversy. We investigated the course of brain function and thermoregulation after oral administration of a standard benzodiazepine, diazepam (DZP), in 8 healthy young men (mean age, 19.8 years; range, 18 to 23 years) and 8 healthy middle-aged and older men (mean age, 60.

Similar profiles in human period1 gene expression in peripheral mononuclear and polymorphonuclear cells.

Increasing amounts of data have indicated the physiological significance of circadian clock gene regulation in various peripheral cells. In the present study, we examined expression of the human homolog of period1 (hPer1) in peripheral mononuclear cells (MNCs) and polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) in seven healthy young male volunteers (mean age, 21.0 years; range, 19-24 years) under modified constant routine conditions.

Heat loss, sleepiness, and impaired performance after diazepam administration in humans.

In spite of the accumulation of knowledge regarding the neuropharmacological action of benzodiazepines (Bz), the physiological process by which their sedative/hypnotic effects are induced remains poorly understood. We conducted a single-blind, crossover trial to evaluate the role of the thermoregulatory process in sleepiness and impaired psychomotor performance induced by a standard Bz, diazepam (DZP). Each of the eight healthy young male volunteers (mean age, 19.

[A study of usefulness of chemotherapy in long-term survival choroid plexus carcinoma case of childhood].

We report a girl who was diagnosed with choroid plexus carcinoma at the age of 7 and has had an active daily life in the 11 years after onset. She underwent two tumor excision operations and received radiotherapy followed by intensive chemotherapy using cisplatin, carboplatin, and etoposide. In general, the prognosis of choroid plexus carcinoma is very poor, especially in the childhood cases, since no optimal treatment for choroid plexus carcinoma has yet been established.

[The relationship between the severity of a neurological condition and the blood coagulation/fibrinolytic system in patients with spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage].

In order to examine the relationship between the hemostatic systems and the severity of neurological changes, shortly after spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) we reviewed 30 patients who had been admitted within 6 hours after the onset of SAH. Peripheral blood samples were obtained within 6 hours of the onset of SAH. There was a significant correlation between increased values of serum antithrombin III, thrombin-antithrombin III complexes, fibrinopeptide B beta 15-42, D-dimers, and the neurological severity of SAH.