Sodium nitroprusside as an adjunctive treatment for schizophrenia reduces Ndel1 oligopeptidase activity.

Objective: To assess nuclear distribution element-like 1 (Ndel1) enzyme activity following acute administration of sodium nitroprusside (sNP) in a rodent model of schizophrenia (SCZ) and in a cohort of chronic SCZ patients.

Methods: Ndel1 activity was measured following sNP infusions in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) (2.5 or 5.

Mononitrate Isosorbide as an Adjunctive Therapy in Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial.

Background: Schizophrenia is a complex disabling mental disorder, and many patients present poor response to available treatments. Accumulating evidence about the role of the glutamate/nitric oxide pathway in mediating the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia suggests potential benefits of drugs that modulate this system. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of isosorbide mononitrate (ISMN) as an adjunctive therapy for symptomatic outpatients with schizophrenia.

Nitrous oxide as an adjunctive therapy in major depressive disorder: a randomized controlled double-blind pilot trial.

Objective: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is related to glutamatergic dysfunction. Antagonists of glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), such as ketamine, have antidepressant properties. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is also a NMDAR antagonist.

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale - Short Form (IGDS9-SF) to the Brazilian context.

Introduction: The Internet Gaming Disorder Scale - Short Form (IGDS9-SF) assesses the severity, harmful effects and/or consequences of excessive online and offline gaming. Its conciseness and theoretical foundations on current diagnostic criteria of gaming disorders make it a useful resource for clinical and screening settings.

Objective: To describe the process of cross-cultural adaptation of the IGDS9-SF to the Brazilian context.

Adverse childhood experiences and chronic lung diseases in adulthood: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

: Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) affect physical and mental health and may appear as risk factors for the development of different conditions in adult life. : To perform a literature review and meta-analysis on risk indicators for the development of chronic lung diseases in adulthood associated with ACE. : We conducted a systematic literature review according to the (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines using the online databases , and .

Proneness, urbanicity, trauma, and cannabis triggering psychotic states in large urban centers.

Purpose Of Review: The two past decades have seen the production of a vast amount of evidence about the genetic and nongenetic factors that contribute to the onset of psychosis from various fields of research. The present article reviews recent evidence from four of these fields that were shown to be strongly associated with psychosis: proneness, urbanicity, trauma, and cannabis use.

Recent Findings: The evidence reviewed shows that all four sets of factors investigated here are implicated in the occurrence of psychosis.

Clinical validity and intrarater and test-retest reliability of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 - Clinician Version (SCID-5-CV).

Aim: The Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM is one of the most used diagnostic instruments in clinical research worldwide. The current Clinician Version of the instrument (SCID-5-CV) has not yet been assessed in respect to its psychometric qualities. We aimed to assess the clinical validity and different reliability indicators (interrater test-retest, joint interview, face-to-face vs telephone application) of the SCID-5-CV in a large sample of 180 non-prototypical and psychiatric patients based on interviews conducted by raters with different levels of clinical experience.

Sex Hormones and Processing of Facial Expressions of Emotion: A Systematic Literature Review.

We systematically reviewed the literature to determine the influence of sex hormones on facial emotion processing (FEP) in healthy women at different phases of life. Searches were performed in , and . Twenty-seven articles were included in the review and allocated into five different categories according to their objectives and sample characteristics (menstrual cycle, oral contraceptives, pregnancy/postpartum, testosterone, and progesterone).

Brain functional and perfusional alterations in schizophrenia: an arterial spin labeling study.

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that affects the anatomy and function of the brain, with an impact on one's thoughts, feelings, and behavior. The purpose of the study was to investigate cerebral blood flow (CBF) and brain connectivity in a group of patients with schizophrenia. Pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) images were acquired from 28 patients in treatment and 28 age-matched healthy controls.

Neuroimaging of major depression in Parkinson's disease: Cortical thickness, cortical and subcortical volume, and spectroscopy findings.

Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder in Parkinson's disease (PD). The aim of this study was to compare PD patients with current Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), lifetime MDD, and no MDD using three neuroimaging techniques. A total of 43 PD patients were selected and divided into three groups: (i) current MDD (n = 15), (ii) previous MDD without current MDD (n = 10); and (iii) control group (no current or lifetime MDD; n = 18).

Nitric Oxide's Involvement in the Spectrum of Psychotic Disorders.

Background: Recent findings suggest that dopaminergic abnormalities found in psychotic disorders may be secondary to nitric oxide dysfunctions. Nitric oxide seems to influence glutamatergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission, both of which have been associated with psychosis.

Objective: To search and review published works which examined the influence of nitric oxide in psychotic disorders subjects.

Cognition in at-risk mental states for psychosis.

Rationale: The devastating nature of schizophrenia and treatment limitations have triggered a search for early detection methods to enable interventions to be implemented as soon as the first signs and symptoms appear. In this effort, several studies have investigated the cognitive functions in individuals regarded as being in at-risk mental states (ARMS) for psychosis.

Objective: Our aim was to make a systematic review of the literature regarding basic and social cognition in individuals in ARMS following the guidelines of the PRISMA statement.

An Overview on the Search for Schizophrenia Biomarkers.

Unlabelled: Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder with a complex presentation comprising positive symptoms (e.g.: hallucinations and delusions), negative symptoms (e.

Structural and functional neuroimaging findings associated with the use of clozapine in schizophrenia: a systematic review.

Objective: Schizophrenia is one of the most severe psychiatric disorders, and its current treatment relies on antipsychotic medications with only partial effectiveness. Clozapine is an atypical antipsychotic with a specific profile of action indicated for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Neuroimaging studies assessing the effects of clozapine could help shed light on the neural underpinnings of the effects of this drug in the brain.

Paliperidone palmitate for refractory and clozapine-resistant schizophrenia.

This is a report on two cases of refractory schizophrenia and two cases of clozapine-resistant schizophrenia successful treated with paliperidone palmitate. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of the successful use of paliperidone palmitate in such patients.

UCSD Performance-Based Skills Assessment (UPSA): validation of a Brazilian version in patients with schizophrenia.

The UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment (UPSA) is a measure of Functional Capacity and assesses skills involved in community tasks. It has good psychometrics properties, and is currently recommended as a co-primary assessment of cognition in the MATRICS Project. To our knowledge so far, there are no studies in western developing countries concerning Functional Capacity in Schizophrenia.

Effects of minocycline add-on treatment on brain morphometry and cerebral perfusion in recent-onset schizophrenia.

Increasing evidence suggests that the tetracycline antibiotic minocycline has neuroprotective effects and is a potential treatment for schizophrenia. However, the mechanisms of action of minocycline in the CNS remain elusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of minocycline on brain morphology and cerebral perfusion in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia after 12months of a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of minocycline add-on treatment.

Oxytocin does not improve performance of patients with schizophrenia and healthy volunteers in a facial emotion matching task.

The neuropeptide oxytocin improves the performance in facial emotion recognition tests in healthy volunteers and in individuals with schizophrenia. Different paradigms are used in emotion recognition tasks, engaging different neurobiological bases. To date, the effects of oxytocin in facial emotion matching tasks have not been studied.

Neuroimaging correlates of pharmacological and psychological treatments for specific phobia.

Specific phobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by irrational fear and avoidance of specific things or situations, interfering significantly with the patients' daily life. Treatment for the disorder consists of both pharmacological and psychological approaches, mainly cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Neuroimaging techniques have been used in an attempt to improve our understanding of the neurobiology of SP and of the effects of treatment options available.

Increased amygdalar and hippocampal volumes in young adults with social anxiety.

Background: Functional neuroimaging studies have consistently shown abnormal limbic activation patterns in socially anxious individuals, but structural data on the amygdala and hippocampus of these patients are scarce. This study explored the existence of structural differences in the whole brain, amygdala, and hippocampus of subjects with clinical and subthreshold social anxiety compared to healthy controls. We hypothesized that there would be volumetric differences across groups, without predicting their direction (i.

Quality of life in patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A.

We assessed the functional impairment in Charcot-Marie-Tooth resulting from 17p11.2-p12 duplication (CMT1A) patients using the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), which is a quality of life questionnaire. Twenty-five patients of both genders aged ≥10 years with a positive molecular diagnosis of CMT1A were selected.

Validation and internal consistency of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for major depression in Parkinson's disease.

Background: depression is common in Parkinson's disease (PD), although frequently under-recognised. Among the scales used to investigate depressive features in PD, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) has been largely used, but no specific cut-off scores for depression have been established thus far, which hinders the use of the PHQ-9 in clinical and research settings.

Objective: we assessed the discriminant validity of the PHQ-9 in order to establish the best cut-off score for the diagnosis of major depression in PD patients.