Publications by authors named "Mei Xiu"

Few studies have examined the psychological impact on adolescents of family confinement and infection exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, these surveys lacked follow-up data to determine how the family confinement affects participants' depression and anxiety. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychological status and related risk and protective factors of adolescents after two months of family confinement for preventing COVID-19 in China, and compare them with baseline data.

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  • Treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) is a challenging condition, and this study evaluates the effectiveness of combining ziprasidone with sertraline in patients resistant to other treatments.
  • The 24-week trial involved 115 patients, comparing standard ziprasidone dosage alone to a lower dosage combined with sertraline, measuring various psychiatric scales at multiple points.
  • Results showed that the combination treatment led to significantly greater improvements in key symptoms and overall functioning, while also experiencing fewer side effects than the monotherapy group.
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Previous studies have demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia (SZ) have greater rate of metabolic disorder as compared with the control population, which likely be the consequence of use of atypical antipsychotics. Olanzapine is a widely used antipsychotic, which increases the weight of SZ patients. However, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood.

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Objective: Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that the pathophysiology of schizophrenia is involved in various abnormalities in oxidative stress markers and cytokines closely related to synaptic plasticity. However, the interactive effects among key cytokines, oxidative stress, and executive dysfunction and symptoms of schizophrenia have not been investigated yet.

Methods: A total of 189 patients with chronic schizophrenia and 60 controls were recruited in the current study.

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  • * Results showed a notable reduction in psychopathology symptoms after 8 weeks of treatment, with an average weight increase of 2.89 kg among patients, and 38.2% experienced a weight gain of 7% or more.
  • * Increased weight correlated with greater improvement in symptoms, indicating that weight gain might be beneficial during the early phases of antipsychotic treatment for schizophrenia.
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Abnormal redox regulation is thought to contribute to schizophrenia (SCZ). Accumulating studies have shown that the plasma antioxidant enzyme activity is closely associated with the course and outcome in antipsychotics-naïve first-episode (ANFE) patients with SCZ. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of risperidone on oxidative stress markers in ANFE patients and the relationship between risperidone response and changes in oxidative stress markers.

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Background: Patients with antipsychotic-naïve first-episode (ANFE) schizophrenia (SZ) can help clarify many confounding factors in determining sex differences in antipsychotic drug induced weight gain and its association with symptom improvement.

Methods: This 8-week longitudinal trial of ANFE patients with SZ enrolled 526 patients and 313 healthy controls. We evaluated bodyweight and the efficacy of antipsychotics on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) at baseline and at the end of week 8.

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Abnormal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels are involved in cognitive decline in patients with schizophrenia. The role of atypical antipsychotic risperidone in improving cognitive function remains unclear. The study aimed to investigate the effect of risperidone monotherapy on cognitive impairment in drug-naïve first-episode (DNFE) patients with schizophrenia and whether BDNF levels were correlated to the improvement of cognition.

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Patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) have cognitive impairments across several domains. Cognition decline is related to the complex interrelationship between brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and redox system imbalance. However, the effect of sex on cognitive impairment and biomarkers has not been fully studied in patients with drug-naïve first episode (DNFE) SCZ.

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Memory dysfunction and associated hippocampal disturbances play crucial roles in cognitive impairment of schizophrenia. To examine the relationships between cognitive function and the hippocampal subfields (HSs) in first-episode never-treated (FENT) schizophrenia patients, the HSs were segmented in 39 FENT patients and 30 healthy controls using a state-of the-art automated algorithm. We found no significant differences in any HSs between the patients and controls.

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The etiology of schizophrenia is still unknown, and the gene has been shown to be associated with SCZ. Previous studies have shown that patients with schizophrenia exhibit sex differences in symptoms and cognitive function. However, no study has been conducted to investigate the sex difference in the association between C677T polymorphism and symptoms and cognitive impairment in Chinese patients with schizophrenia.

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The pathogenesis and etiology of schizophrenia (SCZ) remains unclear. Accumulating studies showed that complex interrelationships between brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and an imbalanced redox system has a crucial role in the psychopathology of SCZ. However, the influence of the interrelationships of BDNF and superoxide dismutase (SOD) on cognitive impairment and clinical symptomatology in drug-naive first-episode (DNFE) SCZ patients has not been studied thoroughly.

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  • High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) shows potential in improving cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, but results vary across studies.
  • In a study involving 120 patients, those receiving 20 Hz rTMS exhibited significant improvements in immediate memory after 8 weeks, with both 10 Hz and 20 Hz showing delayed cognitive benefits at a 6-month follow-up.
  • Improvements in cognitive scores were linked to reduced psychotic symptoms, suggesting that high-frequency rTMS could be an effective adjunct treatment for cognitive deficits in chronic schizophrenia.
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  • * A study involving 56 patients explored the effects of 20 Hz rTMS on cognitive function by comparing it to a sham treatment over 8 weeks, using tests like the RBANS and PANSS.
  • * Results indicated that while no significant differences were noticed until the 8-week mark, rTMS led to a notable improvement in immediate memory, suggesting its effectiveness in enhancing cognitive performance and reducing symptoms in schizophrenia patients.
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Accumulating studies have revealed gender differences in many aspects of schizophrenia (SZ), including obesity and cognitive function. The relationship between obesity and cognitive impairment in SZ has been studied before; however, the results are inconsistent. This study was designed to examine the sex differences in the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cognitive deficits in Chinese patients with chronic SZ, which have not been investigated yet.

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Multiple lines of evidence indicate that patients with chronic schizophrenia (SCZ) display executive dysfunction across the illness course. However, the potential molecular pathophysiologic mechanisms remain poorly elucidated. Neurodevelopmental changes caused by alterations of inflammatory mediators and neurotrophins have been shown to occur in the earliest stages of SCZ, and be associated with executive dysfunction (ED) in SCZ.

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Recent compelling research has demonstrated a pathophysiologic role for proinflammatory cytokines of microglial origin in decreasing neurocognitive function. Psychiatric diseases are already known to have reduced cognitive function and are also associated with increased inflammation. To elaborate on these data, our study aims to investigate how a particular polymorphism of the tumor necrosis factor gene, TNF-α -1031T/C, affects neurocognitive performance in patients with schizophrenia.

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  • - Serum levels of Interleukin-3 (IL-3), a cytokine, are elevated in chronic medicated patients with schizophrenia compared to first-episode drug-naive (FEDN) patients and healthy controls, indicating potential effects of both medication and disease duration on immune response.
  • - A study measuring IL-3 levels in 55 FEDN patients, 52 chronic medicated patients, and 43 healthy controls found significantly lower IL-3 levels in FEDN patients, while chronic patients had higher levels than healthy individuals.
  • - No correlation was found between IL-3 levels and symptoms in FEDN patients, but a significant association was noted between IL-3 and overall psychopathology scores in chronic patients, suggesting that immune function
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Cognitive deficits are a core feature of schizophrenia and we examined the cognitive profile of first-episode and chronic schizophrenia in a Chinese Han population using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). We recruited 79 first-episode drug-naïve (FEDN) schizophrenia, 132 chronic medicated schizophrenia inpatients and 124 healthy controls. We assessed patient psychopathology using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).

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Numerous studies have shown that proinflammatory cytokines produced by immune cells in the brain have deleterious effects on cognitive functions. In contrast, IL-10, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, can be neuroprotective and prevent neuronal dysfunction. However, few studies have linked the role of IL-10 to cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.

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The pathophysiology of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia may involve the neuroinflammation mediated by cytokines. This study examined the IL-18 levels, the cognitive function, and their association in schizophrenia. We recruited 70 chronic patients and 75 normal controls and examined the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and IL-18 levels.

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  • * The study found that serum IL-3 levels were significantly higher in schizophrenia patients compared to healthy subjects.
  • * Additionally, IL-3 levels showed a significant positive correlation with overall and depressive symptoms measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), indicating IL-3's potential role in schizophrenia psychopathology.
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Many lines of findings support the hypothesis of the inflammation-related pathways in the multifactorial pathogenesis of schizophrenia (SZ). Interleukin-10 (IL-10), a potential anti-inflammatory cytokine, was found to be altered in chronic patients with SZ. The aim of this study was to assess the serum levels of IL-10 in first-episode and drug-naïve (FEDN) patients with SZ and its relationships with the psychopathological parameters.

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Long-term antipsychotic treatment for schizophrenia is often associated with the emergence of tardive dyskinesia (TD), and TD presence is also accompanied by more severe cognitive impairment. Oxidative stress-induced damage may be involved in the development of TD and contribute to cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. We examined the role of oxidative stress in relation to TD and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia using plasma manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) as a biomarker.

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