Affective Processing in Pediatric Bipolar Disorder and Offspring of Bipolar Parents.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by biased processing of emotional information. However, little research in this area has been conducted in youth with BD and at-risk individuals. The goal of this study was to determine whether children with BD displayed comparable or more severe manifestations of this bias relative to offspring of parents with BD.

Predictive classification of pediatric bipolar disorder using atlas-based diffusion weighted imaging and support vector machines.

Previous studies have reported abnormalities of white-matter diffusivity in pediatric bipolar disorder. However, it has not been established whether these abnormalities are able to distinguish individual subjects with pediatric bipolar disorder from healthy controls with a high specificity and sensitivity. Diffusion-weighted imaging scans were acquired from 16 youths diagnosed with DSM-IV bipolar disorder and 16 demographically matched healthy controls.

Beneficial effects of EGb761 and vitamin E on haloperidol-induced vacuous chewing movements in rats: Possible involvement of S100B mechanisms.

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a serious side effect induced by the long-term administration of typical antipsychotics. The pathophysiology of TD remains unclear, but experimental evidence suggests that neurodegeneration caused by free radicals may play an important role in TD development. S100B is considered a potential biomarker of structural neural and glial damage.

Interaction between BDNF rs6265 Met allele and low family cohesion is associated with smaller left hippocampal volume in pediatric bipolar disorder.

Background: Genetic and environmental factors are implicated in the onset and evolution of pediatric bipolar disorder, and may be associated to structural brain abnormalities. The aim of our study was to assess the impact of the interaction between the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) rs6265 polymorphism and family functioning on hippocampal volumes of children and adolescents with bipolar disorder, and typically-developing controls.

Methods: We evaluated the family functioning cohesion subscale using the Family Environment Scale-Revised, genotyped the BDNF rs6265 polymorphism, and performed structural brain imaging in 29 children and adolescents with bipolar disorder, and 22 healthy controls.

Interaction of BDNF with cytokines in chronic schizophrenia.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) interacts with cytokines. Although both BDNF and cytokines occur at abnormal levels in schizophrenia patients, their interactions have not yet been examined. We therefore compared serum BDNF, TNF-α, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, and IL-8 levels in 92 chronically medicated schizophrenia patients and 60 healthy controls.

Glucose disturbances in first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia: Relationship to psychopathology.

Accumulating evidence shows abnormal glucose metabolism in schizophrenia, even at the onset of psychosis. This study aims to examine the glucose and lipid metabolism in first-episode and drug naïve (FEDN) patients with schizophrenia and to explore their relationships with psychopathology, which have been under-investigated. Fasting glucose and lipid profiles, as well as homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index were determined in 120 never-medicated first-episode and 31 healthy control subjects matched for gender and age.

Predictors of psychiatric readmission among patients with bipolar disorder at an academic safety-net hospital.

Objective: Even with treatment, approximately one-third of patients with bipolar disorder relapse into depression or mania within 1 year. Unfavorable clinical outcomes for patients with bipolar disorder include increased rates of psychiatric hospitalization and functional impairment. However, only a few studies have examined predictors of psychiatric hospital readmission in a sample of patients with bipolar disorder.

TCF4 gene polymorphism is associated with cognition in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.

Background: Cognitive deficits have been identified as an important core feature of schizophrenia. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the transcription factor 4 (TCF4) gene have been reported to be involved in the susceptibility to schizophrenia and be significantly related to cognitive deficits of schizophrenia and controls. This study examines whether the TCF4 rs2958182 polymorphism influences cognitive functions in chronic schizophrenia and controls.

Serotonergic gene variation in substance use pharmacotherapy: a systematic review.

Drug addiction is a serious disease with damaging effects on the brain and physical health. Despite the increase in the number of affected individuals, there are few effective pharmacological treatment options for substance use disorders. The study of the influence of an individual's genetic features on the treatment response may help to identify more efficacious treatment options.

Neuroprogression and Cognitive Functioning in Bipolar Disorder: A Systematic Review.

Bipolar disorder (BD) has been associated with impairments in a range of cognitive domains including attention, verbal learning, and mental flexibility. These deficits are increased during the acute phases of the illness and worsen over the course of BD. This review will examine the literature in relation to potential mechanisms associated with cognitive decline in BD.

Addiction pharmacogenetics: a systematic review of the genetic variation of the dopaminergic system.

Substance use disorders have significant personal, familial, and societal consequences. Despite the serious consequences of substance use, only a few therapies are effective in treating substance use disorders, thus highlighting a need for improved treatment practices. Substance use treatment response depends on multiple factors such as genetic, biological, and social factors.

The role of negative mood induction on working memory capacity in individuals putatively at risk for bipolar disorder: A pilot study.

Objective: Bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by cognitive deficits. Usually individuals at risk for BD do not exhibit such deficits but they might be evident under cognitive or emotionally stressful conditions. To our knowledge this is the first study examining working memory capacity under mood induction in individuals at risk for BD.

Development and validation of a brain maturation index using longitudinal neuroanatomical scans.

Background: Major psychiatric disorders are increasingly being conceptualized as 'neurodevelopmental', because they are associated with aberrant brain maturation. Several studies have hypothesized that a brain maturation index integrating patterns of neuroanatomical measurements may reliably identify individual subjects deviating from a normative neurodevelopmental trajectory. However, while recent studies have shown great promise in developing accurate brain maturation indices using neuroimaging data and multivariate machine learning techniques, this approach has not been validated using a large sample of longitudinal data from children and adolescents.

Adjunctive aripiprazole in the treatment of risperidone-induced hyperprolactinemia: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-response study.

Hyperprolactinemia is an unwanted adverse effect associated with several antipsychotics. The addition of partial dopamine receptor agonist aripiprazole may attenuate antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia effectively. However, the ideal dosing regimen for this purpose is unknown.

Bipolar disorder prevalence: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature.

Objective: Bipolar disorder (BD) is common in clinical psychiatric practice, and several studies have estimated its prevalence to range from 0.5 to 5% in community-based samples. However, no systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of BD type 1 and type 2 has been published in the literature.

Does a history of substance abuse and illness chronicity predict increased impulsivity in bipolar disorder?

Background: Impulsivity is a common feature shared by bipolar disorder (BD) and substance use disorder (SUD). SUD and recurrent mood episodes are considered to be risk factors for poor outcome in BD. However, the association between impulsivity, illness chronicity and SUD in BD remains unexplored.

A functional polymorphism in the interleukin-1beta and severity of nicotine dependence in male schizophrenia: a case-control study.

Previous studies have shown that the functional 511C/T polymorphism in the IL-1beta-gene may be implicated in the susceptibility for schizophrenia. Moreover, recent studies suggested that IL-1 participates in the progression of lung disease in smokers, which are overrepresented in schizophrenia. We aimed to investigate the possible relationship between the IL-1beta-511C/T polymorphism and smoking behavior in schizophrenia versus healthy controls in a Chinese population.

The role of opioidergic genes in the treatment outcome of drug addiction pharmacotherapy: A systematic review.

Background And Objectives: Drug addiction is a serious illness with deleterious functional and social consequences for both the affected individuals, their families, and society at large. In spite of the abundant research on substance dependence, there are few effective treatments for this disease. Given the crucial role of the endogenous opioid system in the development and maintenance of substance abuse disorders, this review focuses on the opioidergic system and examines the role of opioidergic genes in the treatment outcome of pharmacotherapies of alcohol, opioid, and cocaine addiction.

Factors differentially associated with early readmission at a university teaching psychiatric hospital.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: The rate of psychiatric readmissions within 30 days of discharge is a well-established behavioural health system performance measure linked to the quality of inpatient hospital care as well as to access to community-based aftercare services. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors differentially associated with earlier readmission among a sample of patients (n = 588) readmitted within 30 days of discharge to a university teaching psychiatric hospital from 2001 to 2010.

Methods: Quality assurance interviews were conducted with patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge.

Association of angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphism with schizophrenia and depressive symptom severity in a Chinese population.

Background: Depressive symptoms are frequently observed in schizophrenia patients. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), a key enzyme of renin-angiotensin system, can catalyze the degradation of neuropeptides and modulate dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmission. Previous studies have revealed the association of the ACE gene insertion/deletion polymorphism with depressive disorder and its treatment response but not with the depressive symptoms in schizophrenia.

Prediction of pediatric unipolar depression using multiple neuromorphometric measurements: a pattern classification approach.

Background: Diagnosis of pediatric neuropsychiatric disorders such as unipolar depression is largely based on clinical judgment - without objective biomarkers to guide diagnostic process and subsequent therapeutic interventions. Neuroimaging studies have previously reported average group-level neuroanatomical differences between patients with pediatric unipolar depression and healthy controls. In the present study, we investigated the utility of multiple neuromorphometric indices in distinguishing pediatric unipolar depression patients from healthy controls at an individual subject level.

Reduced white matter integrity and verbal fluency impairment in young adults with bipolar disorder: a diffusion tensor imaging study.

Background: Clinical evidence shows that bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by white matter (WM) microstructural abnormalities. However, little is known about the biological mechanisms associated with these abnormalities and their relationship with cognitive functioning.

Methods: 49 adult BD patients ((M±SD): 29.

Premorbid obesity and metabolic disturbances as promising clinical targets for the prevention and early screening of bipolar disorder.

Recent evidence shows an important relationship between metabolic disturbances and bipolar disorder (BD). However, it is still unclear whether such metabolic disturbances are only a consequence or to some extent the precipitating factors for health problems and maladaptive behaviors observed in BD. Because both metabolic disturbances and BD are medical conditions sharing common alterations in multiple biomarkers, it is plausible to hypothesize that metabolic disturbances may be considered to some extent as a major vulnerability factor in the latent phase of BD for some young adults.

Mn-superoxide dismutase activity is associated with orofacial involuntary movements in schizophrenia patients with tardive dyskinesia.

Background: Oxidative stress-induced damage may be involved in tardive dyskinesia (TD) development. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), the key antioxidant enzyme, was found abnormal in TD.

Objective: We examined the role of oxidative stress in relation to TD and TD subtypes in schizophrenia using manganese SOD (MnSOD) as the biomarker.