The Effectiveness of Short-Term Group Psychoeducation for Patients With Bipolar Disorder in Japan.

Introduction Psychoeducation is a form of psychosocial treatment with proven efficacy in preventing the relapse of bipolar disorder (BD). However, the effectiveness of psychoeducation has not been verified in Japan. We aimed to examine the effect of a brief group psychoeducation course (eight-session long) on relapse prevention in Japanese patients with BD and associated factors.

Association Between the Japanese Version of the Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for Transplantation and Adjustment Disorder in Japanese Patients Using Ventricular Assist Devices as a Bridge to Heart Transplantation.

Objective: Ventricular assist device (VAD) serves as either a bridge to transplantation (BTT) or destination therapy (DT) for end-stage heart failure. In Japan, the extended wait time for heart transplants can make VAD usage for BTT comparable in duration to DT in other countries. Previous studies suggest that while DT patients experience improved quality of life post-VAD implantation, BTT patients often see a decline after two years.

Effect of intermittent subchronic MK-801 administration on dopamine synthesis capacity and responsiveness in the prefrontal cortex.

Aim: The therapeutic potential of N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptor (NMDAR) antagonists, particularly ketamine, in mood disorders, is linked to their modulation of dopamine dynamics in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). However, conflicting effects of distinct NMDAR antagonists, like ketamine and phencyclidine, on mPFC dopamine levels stem from variances in their receptor affinity profiles. This study investigates the impact of intermittent subchronic administration of an NMDAR antagonist on dopamine synthesis capacity and responsiveness within the mPFC, focusing on Dizocilpine (MK-801), a highly selective NMDAR antagonist.

Effects of chronic haloperidol treatment on the expression of fear memory and fear memory extinction in the cued fear-conditioned rats.

Aim: Impairments in emotional memory are frequently observed in several mental disorders, highlighting their significance as potential therapeutic targets. Recent research on the cued fear conditioning model has elucidated the neural circuits involved in fear memory processing. However, contradictory findings have been reported concerning the role of dopamine and the impact of dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) antagonists.

Association of the Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for Transplant and 1-Year Outcome of Living Kidney Transplantation in Japan.

Background: Because most kidney transplantations in Japan are performed on the basis of living donors, after-transplant outcomes should achieve optimum results, overcoming participants' possible reduced adherence.

Objective: To investigate the association between the Japanese version of the Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for Transplantation (SIPAT-J) and outcomes, 1 year after the patient's living kidney transplant (LKT).

Methods: The prospective cohort study was undertaken at Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital from January 2020 to July 2021, with a 1-year follow-up period.

Family functioning before kidney transplantation from living-related donors: Perspectives of donors and recipients in Japan.

Introduction: In Japan, approximately 90% of kidney transplantations involve living donors who are relatives. Selection of a living donor from potential family member donors could affect the entire family. However, reports focusing on preliving-related kidney transplant (LRKT) family functioning are lacking.

Guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of depression in older adults: A report from the Japanese Society of mood disorders.

The Committee for Treatment Guidelines of Mood Disorders, Japanese Society of Mood Disorders, published a Japanese guideline for the treatment of late-life depression in 2020. Based on that guideline, the present guideline was developed and revised to incorporate the suggestions of global experts and the latest published evidence. In the diagnosis of late-life depression, it is important to carefully differentiate it from bipolar disorders, depressive states caused by physical and organic brain disease, drug effects, and dementia, and to determine the comorbidity between late-life depression and dementia.

Psychosocial Assessment of Transplant Candidates: Inter-rater Reliability and Concurrent Validity of the Japanese Version of the Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for Transplantation.

Background: The Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for Transplantation (SIPAT) is a comprehensive instrument developed to provide a standardized, objective, and evidence-based psychosocial evaluation of the main pretransplant psychosocial risk factors that may influence transplant outcomes.

Objective: Because established assessment procedures or standardized tools designed to perform pre-solid organ transplant psychosocial evaluation are currently unavailable in Japan, the present study aimed to develop and preliminarily validate the Japanese version of the SIPAT.

Methods: First, the Japanese version of the SIPAT was developed using standard forward-back-translation procedures.

Prevalence of Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorder in Outpatients with Schizophrenia and Its Association with Psychopathological Characteristics and Psychosocial Functioning.

The prevalence of circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorder (CRSWD) among patients with schizophrenia is not clear. The effect of comorbid CRSWD on such patients has also not been fully evaluated yet. Outpatients with schizophrenia in the maintenance phase who visited Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital between April 2018 and March 2019 participated in this study.

Clinical Factors Associated with New-Onset Glucose Intolerance among Patients with Schizophrenia during Clozapine Treatment: All-Case Surveillance in Japan.

Clozapine (CLZ), an antipsychotic with a unique mechanism of action, is known to be superior to any other antipsychotic for schizophrenia. However, CLZ is also known to be associated with the development of lethal side effects, which include agranulocytosis and glucose intolerance (GI). Regular measurement and registration of blood test results have been mandatory for all CLZ users; however, these risks may still prevent therapists from prescribing CLZ.

Clozapine-induced agranulocytosis in Japan: Changes in leukocyte/neutrophil counts before and after discontinuation of clozapine.

Objective: To determine the prevalence, background factors, and progression of and recovery from clozapine-induced agranulocytosis in Japan.

Methods: Data on treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients registered with the Clozaril Patient Monitoring Service (CPMS) between July 29, 2009 and January 20, 2016 were extracted. Patients with a neutrophil count <500/mm were defined as having agranulocytosis, and those with a leukocyte count <3,000/mm or a neutrophil count <1,500/mm but not meeting the criteria for agranulocytosis were defined as having leukopenia/neutropenia.

Withdrawal of the Decision to Donate Kidney by Living Related Donors: A Single-center Study in Japan.

Background: In Japan, 90% of kidney transplantations involve living related donors. A third-party interview is conducted during latter stages of preparation for transplantation to ensure the donor's voluntary decision-making. In this study, we investigated the factors responsible for withdrawal of decision for kidney donation by related living donors after third-party interview.

Escitalopram attenuates fear stress-induced increase in amygdalar dopamine following methamphetamine-induced sensitisation: Implications of fine-tuning action of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors on emotional processing.

Serotonin reuptake inhibitors modulate the serotonergic pathways of the nervous system and are widely used for treating psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression. The dopaminergic system is related to the development of these conditions. Previous studies on methamphetamine-sensitised rats (behavioural models of stress vulnerability) have shown increased release of dopamine in response to conditioned stress in the amygdala.

Analysis of Clozapine Use and Safety by Using Comprehensive National Data From the Japanese Clozapine Patient Monitoring Service.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate clozapine use and its associated adverse effects in patients in Japan.

Methods: We analyzed data recorded from July 2009 to January 2016 (N = 3780 patients) in the Clozaril Patient Monitoring Service, which was established in Japan in 2009 and includes all Japanese patients who have been prescribed clozapine.

Results: The treatment discontinuation rate was 23.

Diazepam suppresses the stress-induced dopaminergic release in the amygdala of methamphetamine-sensitized rat.

Although the benzodiazepine class of drugs has proven useful in treating anxiety symptoms, recent studies yield no consistent empirical support for their use in treating psychiatric disorders. However, animal studies using a fear conditioning paradigm have suggested that benzodiazepines facilitate fear memory extinction, dependent on treatment timing and subject conditions. However, we have no data on the effect of subject conditions.

Therapeutic effects of diclofenac, pregabalin, and duloxetine on disuse-induced chronic musculoskeletal pain in rats.

The aim of this study was to clarify the mechanism of disuse-induced muscle hyperalgesia through the evaluation of the pharmacological behaviour of muscle hyperalgesia profiles in chronic post-cast pain (CPCP) rats with acute and chronic-phase mirror-image muscle hyperalgesia treated with diclofenac (NSAID), pregabalin (an inhibitor of Ca channel α2δ), and duloxetine (SNRI). After 2 weeks of cast immobilization, the peak cross-sectional area and muscle wet weight of the ipsilateral soleus and gastrocnemius muscles decreased more significantly in CPCP rats than in untreated rats. Histological findings revealed disuse-induced muscle atrophy in CPCP rats.

Dopamine dynamics during emotional cognitive processing: Implications of the specific actions of clozapine compared with haloperidol.

Clozapine has improved efficacy relative to typical antipsychotics in schizophrenia treatment, particularly regarding emotional symptoms. However, the mechanisms underlying its therapeutic benefits remain unclear. Using a methamphetamine-sensitised rat model, we measured changes in dopamine levels in the amygdalae in response to a fear-conditioned cue, serving as a biochemical marker of emotional cognitive processing disruption in psychosis, for analysing the biochemical mechanisms associated with the clinical benefits of clozapine.

Elucidation of The Behavioral Program and Neuronal Network Encoded by Dorsal Raphe Serotonergic Neurons.

Elucidating how the brain's serotonergic network mediates diverse behavioral actions over both relatively short (minutes-hours) and long period of time (days-weeks) remains a major challenge for neuroscience. Our relative ignorance is largely due to the lack of technologies with robustness, reversibility, and spatio-temporal control. Recently, we have demonstrated that our chemogenetic approach (eg, Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs)) provides a reliable and robust tool for controlling genetically defined neural populations.

[Significance of the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia in the emotional context processing of cognition].

Emotional disorders and cognitive dysfunctions are important treatment targets in psychiatric clinical settings. The biological mechanisms of emotional disorders have been studied with methods that include fear conditioning, schizophrenia models are studied with methamphetamine-induced reverse tolerance in rats, and dynamic changes in brain neurotransmitters are studied with microdialysis and high-performance liquid chromatography. We combined these methods in order to evaluate dopamine dynamics in the amygdala and the biological bases and relationships of emotional disorder and cognitive dysfunction.

Valproic acid inhibits excess dopamine release in response to a fear-conditioned stimulus in the basolateral complex of the amygdala of methamphetamine-sensitized rats.

Valproic acid, an established antiepileptic and antimanic drug, has recently emerged as a promising emotion-stabilizing agent for patients with psychosis. Although dopamine transmission in the amygdala plays a key role in emotional processing, there has been no direct evidence about how valproic acid acts on the dopaminergic system in the brain during emotional processing. In the present study, we tested the effect of valproic acid on a trait marker of vulnerability to emotional stress in psychosis, which is excess dopamine release in response to a fear-conditioned stimulus (CS) in the basolateral complex of the amygdala of methamphetamine-sensitized rats.

[Action of amygdala dopamine and effect of antipsychotics].

Although emotional dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia is thought to be associated with poorer outcomes in terms of overall quality of well-being, only a few basic studies have been done on the biochemical effect of antipsychotics on the fear response of a neurotransmitter (i.e. dopamine).

Aripiprazole and haloperidol suppress excessive dopamine release in the amygdala in response to conditioned fear stress, but show contrasting effects on basal dopamine release in methamphetamine-sensitized rats.

Although emotional dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia is thought to be associated with poorer outcomes in terms of overall quality of well-being, only a few basic studies have examined the biochemical effect of antipsychotics on emotional function. In this investigation, we examined differences in the effects of aripiprazole and haloperidol on the conditioned fear response in methamphetamine-sensitized and fear-conditioned rats in an in vivo microdialysis study. Aripiprazole is the first antipsychotic drug with an action involving partial dopamine D(2) receptor agonism, thus differing from haloperidol, a typical antipsychotic that shows selective dopamine D(2) receptor full antagonism.