Optimization of capture-recapture monitoring of elusive species illustrated with a threatened grasshopper.

Information on population sizes and trends of threatened species is essential for their conservation, but obtaining reliable estimates can be challenging. We devised a method to improve the precision of estimates of population size obtained from capture-recapture studies for species with low capture and recapture probabilities and short seasonal activity, illustrated with population data of an elusive grasshopper (Prionotropis rhodanica). We used data from 5 capture-recapture studies to identify methodological and environmental factors affecting capture and recapture probabilities and estimates of population size.

Hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, glucose metabolism and TNF-α in narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy with cataplexy is caused by a deficiency in the production of hypocretin/orexin, which regulates sleep and wakefulness, and also influences appetite, neuroendocrine functions and metabolism. In this case-control study, 11 patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy and 11 healthy adults underwent an oral glucose tolerance test, and dexamethasone suppression/corticotropin-releasing hormone stimulation test. The average age of patients and controls was 35.

Olanzapine and clozapine differently affect sleep in patients with schizophrenia: results from a double-blind, polysomnographic study and review of the literature.

Schizophrenia is associated with impaired sleep continuity. The second generation antipsychotics clozapine and olanzapine have been reported to improve sleep continuity but also to rarely induce restless legs syndrome (RLS). The aims of this randomized double-blind study were to compare the effects of clozapine and olanzapine on sleep and the occurrence of RLS.

Glucose tolerance in patients with narcolepsy.

Study Objectives: Obesity is a common feature of narcolepsy. In addition, an increased occurrence of non-insulin dependent diabetes has been reported. So far, it is not known whether glucose metabolism in narcolepsy is disturbed due to, or independently of obesity.

Sleep propensity at daytime as assessed by Multiple Sleep Latency Tests (MSLT) in patients with schizophrenia increases with clozapine and olanzapine.

Sleep propensity at daytime has not been investigated in untreated patients with schizophrenia. Furthermore, while the antipsychotics clozapine and olanzapine are considered to frequently cause 'sleepiness' or 'sedation', this has not been objectified yet. Therefore, 30 patients with schizophrenia were included in this randomized, double-blind study.

Short- and long- term efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy for DSM-IV panic disorder in patients with and without severe psychiatric comorbidity.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and/or pharmacological therapy are considered to be effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Anxiety patients frequently suffer from comorbid psychiatric disorders such as depression or substance disorders. Ongoing substance disorders and/or severe depressive symptomatology often are the reason why patients are not treated by outpatient psychotherapy.

The stress hormone system in various sleep disorders.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-system activity is regulated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the primary endogenous circadian pacemaker. In addition, sleep plays an important modulatory role. However, data on HPA-system activity in sleep disorders are quite conflicting.

Effects of clozapine and olanzapine on cytokine systems are closely linked to weight gain and drug-induced fever.

The second generation antipsychotics clozapine and olanzapine are known to cause weight gain. However, only clozapine is associated with drug-induced fever. Cytokines have been linked to the induction of both weight gain and drug-induced fever.

Clozapine and olanzapine are associated with food craving and binge eating: results from a randomized double-blind study.

The second generation antipsychotics clozapine and olanzapine frequently induce weight gain. Randomized studies investigating abnormal eating behavior (food craving, binge eating) possibly associated with weight gain are lacking. Thirty patients with schizophrenia, schizophreniform, or schizoaffective disorder were included in this randomized, double-blind, parallel study comparing abnormal eating behavior using a standardized scale, clinical efficacy using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale 0-6 and Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale, and tolerability of clozapine and olanzapine.

Immune-endocrine host response to endotoxin in major depression.

Objective: An impaired hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) function is a well-established finding in major depression (MD), but it is still unclear how this dysfunction affects immune responses in this disorder.

Method: To further examine the relationship between immune and endocrine responses in MD, 0.4ng/kg body weight endotoxin [LPS] or 100mug hCRH were sequentially applied to 12 patients with MD and to 12 age- and gender-matched healthy controls after pre-treatment with 1.

Successful antidepressant therapy restores the disturbed interplay between TNF-alpha system and HPA axis.

Background: In depressed patients, alterations in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system are the most consistent neurobiological finding. HPA axis activity and cytokines are intrinsically intertwined: inflammatory cytokines stimulate adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol secretion, while, in turn, glucocorticoids suppress the synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines.

Methods: We examined alterations in plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), levels of its soluble receptors p55 (sTNF-R p55) and p75 (sTNF-R p75) as well as changes in the HPA system function using the combined dexamethasone/corticotropin-releasing hormone (dex/CRH) test on admission and at discharge in 70 depressed inpatients without inflammation.

Low doses of dexamethasone affect immune parameters in the absence of immunological stimulation.

Recent findings suggest an important role of subtle changes in the plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines within the brain-immune interplay. It is unclear how such changes are regulated in the absence of acute inflammatory or infectious stimuli. Endocrine systems are a good candidate, because innate immunity and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-system are closely related: glucocorticoids have immunosuppressive properties and modulate cytokine release from stimulated mononuclear blood cells in vitro and the immune response in vivo, but it still remains unclear, whether they also modulate circulating cytokine levels in the absence of immunological stimuli.

[Chronic pain and depression].

Pain and depression are a severe burden on the patient and on the health system. The diseases have many common pathophysiological aspects and a high level of comorbidity. In this article the different diagnostic tools and options for the treatment of pain and depression are described.

[Experimental studies on the interaction between sleep and the immune system in humans].

Sleepiness and increased sleep pressure are typical symptoms of inflammation and infection. Moreover, it is a pre-scientific belief that sleep supports host defense. The present paper summarizes the experimental evidence regarding the interaction between sleep and the immune system in humans.

[Weight gain during treatment with antipsychotics: clinical relevance, pathophysiology, and therapeutical strategies].

The clinical relevance of drug-induced weight changes is due to the development of obesity, increased rates of morbidity and reduced treatment compliance, even if the psychopharmacological treatment is effective. Possible underlying causes of weight gain in patients treated with antipsychotic drugs are the psychiatric disorder itself, and changes in the neurotransmitter, cytokine and hormone systems. Clinical management of psychopharmacologically induced weight gain includes diet, behavioral and pharmacological therapy.

Plasma levels of leptin and endogenous immune modulators during treatment with carbamazepine or lithium.

Several psychopharmacological agents induce weight gain. Recent studies have suggested that the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) cytokine system is pathophysiologically involved. To assess whether carbamazepine and lithium, which have been reported to lead to weight gain, have effects on the circulating levels of cytokines, we measured plasma levels of TNF-alpha, its soluble receptors sTNF-R p55 and p75, and leptin, as well as weight in 25 inpatients receiving lithium (n=10) or carbamazepine (n=15) weekly during the first 4 weeks of treatment.

Elevation of liver enzyme levels during psychopharmacological treatment is associated with weight gain.

Increased circulating levels of liver enzymes emerging during treatment with psychotropic drugs are frequently encountered and, in general, attributed to drug metabolism or toxic effects. Because obesity was shown to be associated with elevated liver enzyme levels in different non-psychiatric study samples, we hypothesized that drug-induced weight gain might be an additional causative factor. We tested this hypothesis in 67 inpatients who received psychopharmacological treatment across five weeks.

Early prediction of changes in weight during six weeks of treatment with antidepressants.

Weight gain is a frequent and important side effect of psychotropic treatment. We sought to determine weight change predictors during treatment with antidepressant drugs. In 24 patients weight, plasma levels of leptin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha and soluble TNF receptors were determined longitudinally and a multiple linear regression analysis was used to predict weight change from baseline to the sixth week of treatment.

An automatic method for scoring leg movements in polygraphic sleep recordings and its validity in comparison to visual scoring.

Study Objectives: The study presents an automatic method for scoring leg movements in polysomnographic recordings and describes an empirical investigation of its validity.

Design: Leg movements measured by means of the surface electromyogram activation of the right and left tibialis anterior muscle contained in 24 digitally recorded all-night polysomnograms were analyzed visually according to the American Sleep Disorders Association guidelines by 2 experienced raters and automatically scored using a newly developed electromyogram-based analytical method. Two visual scorings and the automatic scoring were compared in pairs using descriptive and confirmative statistical methods.

[Cytokine network in patients with schizophrenia and its significance for the pathophysiology of the illness].

Experimental findings from psychoimmunologic research in humans and epidemiological data suggest that alterations in cytokine networks may induce acute psychopathologic symptoms and may be involved in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of schizophrenia by influencing brain development. However, there is insufficient evidence from genetic, post-mortem, and cerebrospinal fluid studies to demonstrate this in the CNS of schizophrenic patients. In contrast, there are quite robust findings from peripheral blood that interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interferon cytokine systems in patients are regulated differently than in controls.

Sleep enhances nocturnal plasma ghrelin levels in healthy subjects.

Ghrelin, an endogenous ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, has been shown to promote slow-wave sleep (SWS, non-REM sleep stages 3 and 4). Plasma levels of ghrelin are dependent on food intake and increase in sleeping subjects during the early part of the night. It is unknown whether sleep itself affects ghrelin levels or whether circadian networks are involved.