Safety profile of clozapine: Analysis using national registry data in Japan.

Clozapine is the only effective antipsychotic drug used for the treatment of treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Although it has been shown that the frequency of clozapine use is very low in Japan, our previous study revealed that the number of clozapine prescriptions has been increasing in recent years, and that risk factors leading to discontinuation of clozapine were also identified as age ≥40 years, poor tolerability to olanzapine, previous treatment with clozapine, and white blood cell count <6000/mm. The main cause for discontinuation of clozapine is the occurrence of a wide range of adverse events, including neutropenia/leukopenia and fatal cardiac disorders.

A descriptive study of 10-year clozapine use from the nationwide database in Japan.

This survey was conducted to identify the actual usage of clozapine and changes required to increase the number of patients with schizophrenia who would benefit from clozapine. We obtained Clozaril® Patient Monitoring Service (CPMS) data for 8,263 patients that received clozapine between July 2009 and January 2020. Patients were divided into the early (n=3,696 cases, which have been analyzed previously) and late groups (n=4,567 cases) according to the date of the treatment initiation.

Clozapine Is Better Tolerated in Younger Patients: Risk Factors for Discontinuation from a Nationwide Database in Japan.

Objective: The effectiveness of clozapine is clearly superior to other antipsychotics in the treatment of refractory schizophrenia. Clozapine leads to various side effects, and therefore many patients are forced to discontinue. In this study, we analyzed the registry database of all cases in Japan to identify risk factors for discontinuation of clozapine.

fNIRS Assessment during an Emotional Stroop Task among Patients with Depression: Replication and Extension.

Objective: Accumulated evidence collected via functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has been reported with regard to mental disorders. A previous finding revealed that emotional words evoke left frontal cortex activity in patients with depression. The primary aim of the current study was to replicate this finding using an independent dataset and evaluate the brain region associated with the severity of depression using an emotional Stroop task.

Clinical application of DEX/CRH test and multi-channel NIRS in patients with depression.

Background: To reduce the number of patients with depression, biomarkers for clarifying psychiatric disorders are warranted. Numerous candidates have been proposed; however, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) with multi-channel probes and a dexamethasone/corticotropin-releasing hormone (DEX/CRH) test are still surviving for practical demand. Thirty-one outpatients with depressed moods were analyzed using both biological tests.

Correlation between frontal lobe oxy-hemoglobin and severity of depression assessed using near-infrared spectroscopy.

Introduction: The search for objective biomarkers of psychiatric disorders has a long history. Despite this, no universally accepted instruments or methods to detect biomarkers have been developed. One potential exception is near-infrared spectroscopy, although interpreting the measures of blood flow recorded with this technique remains controversial.

[The Current Status of the Department of Neuropsychiatry at Osaka Medical College].

Since there is a growing need for psychiatric treatment in general hospitals, the decreas- ing number of treatment beds has become a marked problem in Japan. One of the financial reasons is a difference in the reimbursement of medical fees between medical treatments in physical departments of the same hospital. Our neuropsychiatry department has accepted patients with psychiatric disorders suffering from various physical complications in order to meet local or hospital demand ; however, it is the case that the psychiatric ward has been required to decrease the number of beds from the aspect of management rationalization.

Phosphorylation of c-Cbl protooncogene product following ethanol administration in rat cerebellum: possible involvement of Fyn kinase.

We have previously shown that ethanol administration results in tyrosine phosphorylation of the 130 kDa protein in rat brain, and identified the protein as Cas, the crk-associated src substrate. In the present study, we demonstrate that Cbl of a 120 kDa protein is also tyrosine-phosphorylated in the cerebellum in response to ethanol administration. We also investigated whether Fyn kinase was involved in ethanol-induced Cbl phosphorylation.