Publications by authors named "Natalya S Weber"

The study of effects associated with human exposure to repeated low-level blast during training or operations of select military occupational specialties (MOS) challenges medical science because acute negative effects that might follow such exposures cannot be expected to be clear or prevalent. Any gross effects from such occupational blast exposure on health or performance should be expected to have been already identified and addressed by affected military units through changes to their standard training protocols. Instead, effects, if any, should be expected to be incremental in nature and to vary among individuals of different susceptibilities and exposure histories.

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Low-grade inflammation is present in some cases of schizophrenia, particularly in the early stages of this disorder. The inflammation source is not known but may be the result of dysbiotic processes occurring in the gut. We examined peripheral biomarkers of bacterial translocation, soluble CD14 (sCD14) and lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP), and of general inflammation, C-reactive protein (CRP), in a unique, pre-onset study of schizophrenia.

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Article Synopsis
  • Bipolar disorder (BD) is often misdiagnosed, leading to ineffective treatments, which prompted the investigation of a biomarker panel for accurate diagnosis.
  • A meta-analysis of eight studies identified a panel with 20 protein biomarkers that showed strong predictive capabilities in distinguishing BD from other mental health disorders.
  • The findings suggest that using this biomarker panel can significantly improve early and accurate diagnosis, potentially delaying or preventing the onset of bipolar disorder.
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Alterations in immune response may be an important component in the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. We examined the associations of pentraxin-3 (PTX3) with the onset of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. We tested preonset serum specimens from 160 US military service members who were later diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and 160 matched controls without psychiatric disorders.

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Introduction: Multiple studies have documented immune activation in many individuals with schizophrenia suggesting that antigens capable of generating a prolonged immune response may be important environmental factors in many cases of this disorder. While existing studies have found single-agent associations of antibodies to food and neurotropic infectious agents with schizophrenia, a simultaneous examination of multiple agents may shed light on agent interactions or possible etiopathogenic pathways.

Methods: We used traditional regression and novel statistical techniques to examine associations of single and combined infectious and food antigens with schizophrenia.

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Personality assessment tools have been studied as predictors of performance in civilian and military work settings. The Tailored Adaptive Personality Assessment System (TAPAS) was developed to improve selection of new military recruits by predicting motivational outcomes such as job effort, physical fitness, and drive to perform at high standards. The purpose of this study is to examine the utility of TAPAS as a predictor of psychiatric morbidity and early discharge in a sample of 15,082 Army, active duty, enlisted, nonprior service recruits.

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Unlabelled: U.S. military accession mental health screening includes cognitive testing and questions regarding the applicants' past mental health history.

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Background: While population-based seroprevalence studies of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) are widespread, seroincidence studies are largely limited to select or high-risk populations. The US military offers a potential population to derive national seroincidence rate estimates for young adults (ages 18-29).

Methods: We used banked, longitudinal serum specimens collected in a cohort of 1094 military personnel aged 18 to 30 years who served between 1989 and 2005 to estimate national HSV-1 and HSV-2 seroincidence and seroprevalence for the young, adult military population, weighted according to the US Census.

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Objective: From 40% to 65% of patients with bipolar disorder are estimated to have diagnoses of one or more comorbid conditions. The purpose of this study was to identify comorbid disorders and compare their prevalence in hospitalizations of persons with or without bipolar disorder.

Methods: Data from the 1979-2006 National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) were analyzed to examine temporal trends in the proportional morbidity of bipolar disorder, demographic characteristics, and the most frequent comorbid conditions in hospitalizations of patients with or without bipolar disorder.

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Objectives: To determine whether a molecular signature is present in blood of patients with psychiatric disorders before manifestation of symptoms.

Methods: Multiplex immunoassay analyses were carried out using serum obtained from two case-control studies of schizophrenia (n = 75) and bipolar disorder (n = 110) patients and their matched controls. The samples were drawn within 1 month before estimated onset of illness.

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Schizophrenia is a pervasive neuropsychiatric disorder of uncertain etiology. Multiple studies have documented immune activation in individuals with schizophrenia. One antigen capable of inducing a prolonged immune response is bovine casein derived from ingested milk products.

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Background: There are limited data describing the epidemiology of adult-onset schizophrenic disorders in the United States. Although the military is not proportionately comparable in all demographic characteristics to the civilian population, it is drawn from all racial/ethnic subgroups, and members range in age from 17 to >60 years. We describe the incidence of hospitalization for new onset schizophrenic disorders among military members by sex, race, and age.

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Psychiatric disorders in military members require substantial medical, administrative, and financial resources, and are among the leading causes of hospitalization and early discharge. We reviewed available data to better understand the incidence of bipolar I disorder among military personnel. Defense Medical Epidemiology Database inpatient data were used.

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Objective: Morbidity and mortality from general medical conditions are elevated among patients with schizophrenia compared with the general U.S. population.

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Background: Herpes family viruses can cause central nervous system inflammatory changes that can present with symptoms indistinguishable from schizophrenia and therefore are of interest in schizophrenia research. Most existing studies of herpes viruses have used small populations and postdiagnosis specimens. As part of a larger research program, we conducted a hypothesis-generating case-control study of selected herpes virus antibodies among individuals discharged from the US military with schizophrenia and pre- and postdiagnosis sera.

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Objective: A number of studies have reported associations between Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection and the risk of schizophrenia. Most existing studies have used small populations and postdiagnosis specimens.

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Objective: We are studying associations between selected biomarkers and schizophrenia or bipolar disorder among military personnel. To assess potential diagnostic misclassification and to estimate the date of illness onset, we reviewed medical records for a subset of cases.

Methods: Two psychiatrists independently reviewed 182 service medical records retrieved from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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