Schizophrenia: A Review of Social Risk Factors That Affect Women.

Social risk factors are long-term or repeated environmental exposures in childhood and youth that change the brain and may, via epigenetic effects, change gene expression. They thus have the power to initiate or aggravate mental disorders. Because these effects can be mediated via hormonal or immune/inflammatory pathways that differ between men and women, their influence is often sex-specific.

Sleep Disturbances in At-Risk Mental States and First Episode of Psychosis: A Narrative Review on Interventions.

Sleep disturbances are a common yet often overlooked symptom of psychosis that can drastically affect the quality of life and well-being of those living with the condition. Sleep disorders are common in people diagnosed with schizophrenia and have significant negative effects on the clinical course of the illness and the functional outcomes and quality of life of patients. There is a limited number of studies addressing this question in first-episode psychosis (FEP).

Biological and Clinical Aspects on the Treatment of Schizophrenia and Related Disorders: New Challenges.

For several decades, it has been postulated that dopaminergic pathways explain the neurobiology of schizophrenia, the biological underpinnings of treatment responses and the main mechanisms of action of antipsychotics [...

Collaboration between Psychiatrists and Other Allied Medical Specialists for the Treatment of Delusional Disorders.

Background: There is increasing evidence that individuals with psychosis are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and several other medical comorbidities. In delusional disorder (DD), this is particularly so because of the relatively late onset age.

Aims: The aim of this narrative review is to synthesize the literature on the necessity for medical collaboration between psychiatrists and other specialists.

Switching from risperidone to paliperidone palmitate in schizophrenia: Changes in social functioning and cognitive performance.

Background: Previous studies suggest that paliperidone might show a better profile for social functioning and cognitive abilities than risperidone. We aimed to study whether switching from risperidone to paliperidone palmitate (PP) is associated with improved cognitive abilities at 3 or 6 months after the switch.

Methods: Thirty-eight patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia were studied.

The relationship between sex, personality traits, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis.

The aim of our study was to examine whether there are sex-based differences in the relationship between personality traits and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis measures. A total of 106 healthy volunteers (56.6% women; age: 48.

Peri- and Post-Menopausal Women with Schizophrenia and Related Disorders Are a Population with Specific Needs: A Narrative Review of Current Theories.

Background: While gender differences in antipsychotic response have been recognized, the potential role of menopause in changing drug efficacy and clinical outcome in schizophrenia related disorders has been understudied. We aimed to review the relevant literature to test whether optimizing menopausal and post-menopausal treatment and addressing specific health needs of this stage in life will improve outcome.

Methods: Non-systematic narrative review using the PubMed database (1900-July 2021) focusing on randomized controlled trial results addressing our question.

A conserved C-terminal peptide of sorghum phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase promotes its proteolysis, which is prevented by Glc-6P or the phosphorylation state of the enzyme.

A synthetic peptide from the C-terminal end of C-phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase is implicated in the proteolysis of the enzyme, and Glc-6P or phosphorylation of the enzyme modulate this effect. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) is a cytosolic, homotetrameric enzyme that performs a variety of functions in plants. Among them, it is primarily responsible for CO fixation in the C photosynthesis pathway (C-PEPC).

The role of childhood trauma, HPA axis reactivity and FKBP5 genotype on cognition in healthy individuals.

Cognitive impairment has been associated with both childhood adversity and abnormalities of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function. An interaction exists between the functional polymorphism rs1360780 in the FKBP5 gene and childhood maltreatment, influencing a variety of clinical outcomes. Our goal was to study the relationship between different types of childhood trauma, HPA axis functionality, rs1360780 genotype and cognitive function in 198 healthy individuals who participated in the study.

The Role of Sleep Quality, Trait Anxiety and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Measures in Cognitive Abilities of Healthy Individuals.

Sleep plays a crucial role in cognitive processes. Sleep and wake memory consolidation seem to be regulated by glucocorticoids, pointing out the potential role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in the relationship between sleep quality and cognitive abilities. Trait anxiety is another factor that is likely to moderate the relationship between sleep and cognition, because poorer sleep quality and subtle HPA axis abnormalities have been reported in people with high trait anxiety.

Targeting the microbiome-gut-brain axis for improving cognition in schizophrenia and major mood disorders: A narrative review.

Cognitive impairment has been consistently found to be a core feature of serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and major mood disorders (major depression and bipolar disorder). In recent years, a great effort has been made in elucidating the biological causes of cognitive deficits and the search for new biomarkers of cognition. Microbiome and gut-brain axis (MGB) hormones have been postulated to be potential biomarkers of cognition in serious mental illnesses.

Cognitive biases are associated with clinical and functional variables in psychosis: A comparison across schizophrenia, early psychosis and healthy individuals.

Objective: We investigated the presence of cognitive biases in people with a recent-onset psychosis (ROP), schizophrenia and healthy adolescents and explored potential associations between these biases and psychopathology.

Methods: Three groups were studied: schizophrenia (N=63), ROP (N=43) and healthy adolescents (N=45). Cognitive biases were assessed with the Cognitive Biases Questionnaire for Psychosis (CBQ).

Women with Schizophrenia over the Life Span: Health Promotion, Treatment and Outcomes.

Women with schizophrenia show sex-specific health needs that differ according to stage of life. The aim of this narrative review is to resolve important questions concerning the treatment of women with schizophrenia at different periods of their life-paying special attention to reproductive and post-reproductive stages. Review results suggest that menstrual cycle-dependent treatments may be a useful option for many women and that recommendations re contraceptive options need always to be part of care provision.

Free Thyroxine Concentrations Moderate the Response to a Cognitive Remediation Therapy in People With Early Psychosis: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.

Introduction: Cognitive deficits are a cause of functional disability in psychotic disorders. Cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) might be applied to improve these deficits. We conducted a pilot study to explore whether thyroid hormones might predict the response to CRT in patients with recent-onset psychosis (ROP).

Data of a meta-analysis on pharmacological treatment strategies for lowering prolactin in people with a psychotic disorder and hyperprolactinaemia.

The data presented in this paper describe supplementary material to the article entitled "Pharmacological treatment strategies for lowering prolactin in people with a psychotic disorder and hyperprolactinaemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis" [1]. Although raw data was published on the original article, additional raw data has been included in the current paper (new tables with socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the samples of the studies included in the systematic review). Supplementary data also include the PICO scheme of the systematic review, PRISMA checklist, flow diagram, an explanation of the method for obtaining prolactin concentrations from published figures when data was only available in figures, list of the selected studies, risk of bias summary of all five randomized clinical trials evaluating the addition of aripiprazole for lowering prolactin (included in the meta-analysis in the original article).

Women Undergoing Hormonal Treatments for Infertility: A Systematic Review on Psychopathology and Newly Diagnosed Mood and Psychotic Disorders.

Background: The association between infertility treatments and mental disorders has been poorly addressed. This work aims to review current evidence on the psychopathological effects of hormonal treatments used for infertility on women and the occurrence of newly diagnosed mood and psychotic disorders.

Methods: A systematic review was performed by searching PubMed and clinicaltrials.

Sex-specific association between the cortisol awakening response and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in healthy individuals.

Background: Previous studies have shown associations between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity (HPA). We aimed to investigate the association between obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms and HPA axis functionality in a non-clinical sample and to explore whether there are sex differences in this relationship.

Methods: One hundred eighty-three healthy individuals without any psychiatric diagnosis (80 men, 103 women; mean age 41.

Targeting Hormones for Improving Cognition in Major Mood Disorders and Schizophrenia: Thyroid Hormones and Prolactin.

Cognitive deficits are a core feature of serious mental illnesses such as major depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and are a common cause of functional disability. However, the efficacy of pharmacological interventions for improving the cognitive deficits in these disorders is limited. As pro-cognitive pharmacological treatments are lacking, we aimed to review whether thyroid hormones or drugs that target prolactin may become potential candidates for 'repurposing' trials aiming to improve cognition.

Anionic Phospholipids Induce Conformational Changes in Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase to Increase Sensitivity to Cathepsin Proteases.

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) is a cytosolic, homotetrameric enzyme that serves a variety of functions in plants, acting as the primary form of CO fixation in the C photosynthesis pathway (C-PEPC). In a previous work we have shown that C-PEPC bind anionic phospholipids, resulting in PEPC inactivation. Also, we showed that PEPC can associate with membranes and to be partially proteolyzed.

Differences in multihormonal responses to the dopamine agonist apomorphine between unipolar and bipolar depressed patients.

Background: A large number of studies suggest that dopaminergic function may be impaired in depressed patients, particularly in bipolar patients. The dopamine D2/D1 agonist apomorphine (APO) can be useful in the evaluation of dopaminergic function. However, most studies show conflicting results in APO test responses when evaluating unipolar and bipolar depressed patients.

Improvement in cognitive biases after group psychoeducation and metacognitive training in recent-onset psychosis: A randomized crossover clinical trial.

Metacognitive training (MCT) improves cognitive biases in psychosis. We aimed to explore whether the effectiveness of the combination of psychoeducation and MCT group treatments on cognitive biases differed if the combination was started by psychoeducation or by MCT. Fourty-nine stable patients with a recent-onset psychosis were randomized to two different sequences: MCT + psychoeducation vs psychoeducation + MCT.