Preliminary findings of a randomized controlled trial investigating the efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: a analysis on the role of co-occurring personality disorders.

Introduction: Despite the high hopes for the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the treatment of depression, between 30% and 60.5% of patients do not respond to stimulation. The factors contributing to non-response, especially those related to personality, remain insufficiently investigated.

Dendrimers-Novel Therapeutic Approaches for Alzheimer's Disease.

Dendrimers are covalently bonded globular nanostructures that may be used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Nowadays, AD therapies are focused on improving cognitive functioning and not causal treatment. However, this may change with the use of dendrimers, which are being investigated as a drug-delivery system or as a drug per se.

Association between Female Reproductive Factors and Risk of Dementia.

Women have an over 50% greater risk of dementia than men, which is a main topic of much research. This review aims to investigate the impact of a woman's reproductive history on dementia risk. The consequences of stillbirth are long-term health and psychosocial problems for women.

Artificial light and neurodegeneration: does light pollution impact the development of Alzheimer's disease?

Two multidimensional problems of recent times - Alzheimer's disease and light pollution - seem to be more interrelated than previously expected. A series of studies in years explore the pathogenesis and the course of Alzheimer's disease, yet the mechanisms underlying this pathology remain not fully discovered and understood. Artificial lights which accompany civilization on a daily basis appear to have more detrimental effects on both environment and human health than previously anticipated.

The Amyloid Cascade Hypothesis in Alzheimer's Disease: Should We Change Our Thinking?

Old age increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common neurodegenerative disease, a devastating disorder of the human mind and the leading cause of dementia. Worldwide, 50 million people have the disease, and it is estimated that there will be 150 million by 2050. Today, healthcare for AD patients consumes 1% of the global economy.

Cardiovascular, Pulmonary, and Neuropsychiatric Short- and Long-Term Complications of COVID-19.

Beginning with the various strategies of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to invade our bodies and manifest infection, and ending with the recent long COVID, we are witnessing the evolving course of the disease in addition to the pandemic. Given the partially controlled course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the greatest challenge currently lies in managing the short- and long-term complications of COVID-19. We have assembled current knowledge of the broad spectrum of cardiovascular, pulmonary, and neuropsychiatric sequelae following SARS-CoV-2 infection to understand how these clinical manifestations collectively lead to a severe form of the disease.

The Effect of Frailty Syndrome on the Quality of Life of Individuals with Parkinson's Disease: A Pilot Observational and Multicenter Study on the Polish Population.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder involving decreased dopamine release and atrophy of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra. Frailty syndrome (FS) is common in older adults, which, in combination with PD symptoms, can substantially affect the quality of life (QOL). This study aimed to assess the prevalence of FS among PD patients and to identify variables affecting their QOL with particular attention to FS.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in treatment of psychiatric disorders - review of current studies.

Current progress of basic and clinical science creates background for new therapeutic appliances of brain stimulation methods in disorders of central nervous system. This review describes present state of knowledge regarding practical aspects of one of those methods - transcranial magnetic stimulation, TMS. The review was based on contemporary literature on use of transcranial magnetic stimulation in various diseases, particularly including present recommendations and guidelines as well as systematic reviews, published after year 2000.

Clinical Correlates of the NR3C1 Gene Methylation at Various Stages of Psychosis.

Background: Dysregulation of epigenetic processes might account for alterations of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis observed in patients with schizophrenia. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1) gene in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, individuals at familial high risk of schizophrenia (FHR-P), and healthy controls with respect to clinical manifestation and a history of psychosocial stressors.

Methods: We recruited 40 first-episode psychosis patients, 45 acutely relapsed schizophrenia (SCZ-AR) patients, 39 FHR-P individuals, and 56 healthy controls.

Deep brain stimulation in obsessive-compulsive disorder - case report of two patients.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) occurs in 2-3% of the general population. Due to its chronicity and high resistance to standard treatment, alternative clinical management based on neuroscientific findings has been sought. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a modern and dynamic approach in the treatment of OCD giving hope to patients who are resistant to current pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy based treatments.

Deep brain stimulation: new possibilities for the treatment of mental disorders.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a treatment method that is currently getting more and more attention from psychiatrists. It has proven to be efficacious and safe in the treatment of neurological disorders, mainly Parkinson's disease (PD), dystonia and essential tremor. DBS has very often contributed to successful treatment in cases that had proved resistant to all other methods of treatment.

Allostatic load index and its clinical correlates at various stages of psychosis.

Accumulating evidence indicates systemic biological dysregulations in patients with psychosis that have been conceptualized as the "allostatic load" (AL) index. We aimed to investigate the AL index in 37 subjects at familial high risk of psychosis (FHRP), 42 first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients, 25 acutely relapsed schizophrenia (SCZ-AR) patients and 42 healthy controls (HCs), taking into account psychopathology and cognitive impairment. The AL index was calculated based on 15 biomarkers (cardiovascular markers, anthropometric measures, inflammatory markers, glucose homeostasis parameters, lipids and steroids).

Coping styles and symptomatic manifestation of first-episode psychosis: Focus on cognitive performance.

Cognitive deficits are widely observed in patients with psychosis and represent one of most important determinants of functional outcomes. It has been shown that patients with psychosis prefer maladaptive coping strategies over active coping styles. However, it remains unknown whether cognitive impairments are related to coping styles in psychotic disorders.

Assessment of the Association Between Cigarette Smoking and Cognitive Performance in Patients With Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders: A Case-Control Study.

The prevalence of cigarette smoking is significantly higher in patients with schizophrenia compared to the general population. Schizophrenia is also characterized by cognitive impairments that can be detected in the premorbid phase of illness. However, studies addressing the association between cigarette smoking and cognition in patients with psychosis have provided mixed findings.

Decreased use of active coping styles contributes to elevated allostatic load index in first-episode psychosis.

Accumulating evidence indicates that stress plays an important role in the development of psychotic disorders. Recent studies have revealed that patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) present systemic biological dysregulations related to stress-exposure in terms of elevated allostatic load (AL) index. However, the mechanisms underlying this observation remain unknown.

Profiling inflammatory signatures of schizophrenia: A cross-sectional and meta-analysis study.

We aimed to profile a broad panel of inflammatory markers in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Additionally, we performed a meta-analysis of chemokine alterations that have not been subjected to quantitative synthesis so far. We recruited 78 patients with schizophrenia and 78 healthy controls, and measured inflammatory markers using the Luminex technology.

Serotonin-Related Gene Variants in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Depressive or Anxiety Disorders.

Aim: To assess the association of six polymorphisms in serotonin-related genes with depressive or anxiety disorders in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Methods: The lifetime prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders was assessed in 95 IBS patients (85% women) using the Munich version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). IBS was diagnosed according to the Rome III criteria.

Polymorphisms in immune-inflammatory response genes and the risk of deficit schizophrenia.

Polymorphisms in immune-inflammatory response genes are believed to impact schizophrenia susceptibility. However, it remains unknown whether immunogenetic factors play a role in the etiology of deficit schizophrenia (D-SCZ). Therefore, we genotyped four polymorphisms in genes encoding two immune system regulatory proteins (CTLA-4 rs231775 and CD28 rs3116496), interleukin-6 (IL6 rs1800795) and transforming growth factor-β (TGFB1 rs1800470) in 513 schizophrenia patients and 374 controls.

Cytokine alterations and cognitive impairment in major depressive disorder: From putative mechanisms to novel treatment targets.

Overwhelming evidence indicates the involvement of immune-inflammatory processes in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). Peripheral cytokine alterations serve as one of most consistently reported indices of subthreshold inflammatory state observed in MDD. Although cytokines cannot pass directly through the blood-brain barrier, a number of transport mechanisms have been reported.

Effects of antipsychotics on insight in schizophrenia: results from independent samples of first-episode and acutely relapsed patients.

We aimed to investigate whether antipsychotics differentially impact insight and whether these effects appear because of improvement in psychopathological manifestation in 132 first-episode schizophrenia patients and 201 acutely relapsed schizophrenic patients, who were followed up for 12 weeks. Olanzapine and risperidone were administered to first-episode schizophrenia patients, whereas acutely relapsed schizophrenic patients were treated with olanzapine, perazine and ziprasidone. The Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to assess psychopathology.

Profiling cognitive impairment in treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients.

The aim of this study was to compare cognitive performance between schizophrenia patients with and without treatment resistance (TRS and non-TRS patients) taking into account psychopathological symptoms and antipsychotic treatment. The following cognitive tests were administered to 53 TRS patients and 32 non-TRS subjects: Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), Trail Making Tests (TMT-A and TMT-B), verbal fluency tests (FAS test and Supermarket), as well as selected Wechsler Adults Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R-PI) subtests: Digit Symbol Coding Test, Digit Span Forward and Backward and Similarities. TRS patients performed significantly worse in comparison with non-TRS patients on the measures of processing speed (TMT-A, Stroop test, FAS test, Supermarket test, Digit Symbol Coding test), verbal fluency (FAS test, Supermarket test), cognitive flexibility and executive functions (Stroop test) after controlling for age, illness duration, clinical symptoms severity, the number of years of completed education and antipsychotics' dose.