Publications by authors named "Mika Hirasawa-Fujita"
The association between BDNF C270T genetic variants and smoking in patients with mental disorders and in healthy controls.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry
March 2022
Article Synopsis
- A study explored the relationship between smoking and two BDNF genetic variants (Val66Met and C270T) in over 3,500 Caucasian individuals, including both healthy subjects and those with mental disorders.
- The results showed a significant association between the BDNF C270T variant and smoking, specifically highlighting that smokers were more likely to carry the T allele of this variant, while no such association was found for the Val66Met variant.
- However, this link was only strong in healthy subjects and did not correlate with daily smoking amounts, whereas in patients with alcohol dependence, the Val66Met variant was linked to smoking severity.
Significant association of mu-opioid receptor 1 haplotype with tobacco smoking in healthy control subjects but not in patients with schizophrenia and alcohol dependence.
Psychiatry Res
September 2020
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the relationship between two specific gene variations (polymorphisms) in the OPRM1 gene and tobacco smoking among different groups: patients with schizophrenia, patients with alcohol dependence, and healthy individuals.
- It found that the GC haplotype linked to these gene variations was significantly associated with smoking in healthy controls but not in patients with schizophrenia or alcohol dependence.
- Overall, while there was some indication of a connection between the OPRM1 gene and nicotine dependence, the results did not establish a strong association for those with schizophrenia or alcohol dependence.
Article Synopsis
- Ketamine is known for its safe and effective use as an anesthetic and has unique properties leading to the concept of dissociative anesthesia.
- Initially used only for anesthesia or pain relief, ketamine was discovered to have rapid antidepressant effects in the 1990s, indicating its potential beyond just NMDAR antagonism.
- The text discusses various mechanisms contributing to ketamine's antidepressant effects, including its interaction with multiple receptors and pathways, highlighting its complex pharmacology and the importance of understanding these mechanisms for future clinical applications.
Introduction: The effects of smoking denicotinized (denic) and average nicotine (avnic) tobacco cigarettes were studied on brain mu opioid receptor binding by positron emission tomography with 11C carfentanil. The results indicated the importance of physiological and psychological effects induced by denic smoking.
Methods: Regional mu opioid binding potential (nondisplaceable binding potential, BPND) was measured in 20 adult male overnight abstinent chronic tobacco smokers.
It is not known why mentally ill persons smoke excessively. Inasmuch as endogenous opioid and dopaminergic systems are involved in smoking reinforcement, it is important to study mu opioid receptor (OPRM1) A118G (rs1799971), dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) Taq1A (rs1800497) genotypes, and sex differences among patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Smokers and nonsmokers with schizophrenia (n=177) and bipolar disorder (n=113) were recruited and genotyped.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCortisol in schizophrenia: No association with tobacco smoking, clinical symptoms or antipsychotic medication.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry
July 2017
Cigarette smoking is associated with higher cortisol levels in healthy subjects. In schizophrenia this relationship is not clear. There are divergent results on the association between cortisol with smoking, clinical symptoms and medication in schizophrenia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRegional brain [(11)C]carfentanil binding following tobacco smoking.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry
June 2015
Objective: To determine if overnight tobacco abstinent carriers of the AG or GG (*G) vs. the AA variant of the human mu opioid receptor (OPRM1) A118G polymorphism (rs1799971) differ in [(11)C]carfentanil binding after tobacco smoking.
Methods: Twenty healthy American male smokers who abstained from tobacco overnight were genotyped and completed positron emission tomography (PET) scans with the mu opioid receptor agonist, [(11)C]carfentanil.
Pseudoazurin (PAz), a well-characterized blue copper electron-transfer protein, is shown herein to be capable of mediating electron transfer to the nitrous oxide reductase (N(2)OR) from Achromobacter cycloclastes (Ac). Spectroscopic measurements demonstrate that reduced PAz is efficiently re-oxidized by a catalytic amount of N(2)OR in the presence of N(2)O. Fits of the kinetics resulted in K(M) (N(2)O) and k(cat) values of 19.
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