An examination of the psychosocial factors impacting workplace accommodation requests in individuals with mental disabilities.

Background: Individuals with mental health issues experience profound stigma and discrimination, which may contribute to a lack of accommodation utilization to address functional limitations of their work.

Objectives: This study examined how psychosocial factors may predict the request of accommodations by employed individuals with mental disabilities through the framework of social cognitive career theory.

Methods: In the United States, 148 employed adults with mental disabilities completed an online questionnaire to ascertain self-efficacy, outcome expectation, affect, and workplace support.

The Effect of Ibuprofen on Cytokine Production by Mononuclear Cells from Schizophrenic Patients.

The existence of a restrained inflammatory state in schizophrenic individuals posed the question whether anti-inflammatory drugs may exert antipsychotic effects. Therefore, the effect of ibuprofen (IB) on cytokine production by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from schizophrenic patients was examined and compared to that of healthy subjects. PBMC from 25 schizophrenic patients and 24 healthy volunteers were incubated for 24 h with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the absence or presence of various concentrations of IB.

Difference in inflammatory cytokine production by mononuclear cells from obese and non-obese schizophrenic patients.

Objective: Schizophrenic patients have an increased risk for obesity compared with the general population. Evidence suggests the existence of an inflammatory process in the etiology of both obesity and schizophrenia. Our study compares in vitro secretion of inflammatory cytokines by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from obese and non-obese schizophrenic patients.

The retinoid X receptor agonist bexarotene relieves positive symptoms of schizophrenia: a 6-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter trial.

Objective: The limitations of antipsychotic therapy in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder led to the investigation of the putative utility of pharmacologic augmentation strategies. The antitumor agent bexarotene via nuclear retinoid X receptor (RXR) activation might modulate numerous metabolic pathways involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. This trial aimed to investigate efficacy and safety of add-on bexarotene to ongoing antipsychotic treatment of patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms in schizophrenia: prevalence, clinical features and treatment. A literature review.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in schizophrenia, the clinical features of the sub-group of patients with schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive symptoms and treatment options for these patients.

Method: A literature review of studies investigating the prevalence, clinical features and treatment of patients with schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

Results: The prevalence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in schizophrenic patients, while generally found to be higher than in the general population, varies widely between different studies.

Reduced anticardiolipin antibodies in first episode and chronic schizophrenia.

The objective of this study was to measure anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) in major psychiatric diseases. In Experiment 1, 96 subjects were evaluated: 20 first episode schizophrenia patients, [SCZ1] 20 chronic schizophrenia patients in acute exacerbation [SCZ2], l9 bipolar patients, 20 schizoeffective patients and 17 healthy age matched controls. In Experiment 2, 97 subjects were studied: 20 first episode schizophrenia patients [SCZ1], 60 chronic schizophrenia patients in acute exacerbation [SCZ2] and 17 healthy matched controls.

Quetiapine versus olanzapine for the treatment of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.

Negative symptoms are considered the most debilitating and refractory aspect of schizophrenia, being associated with poor social, occupational and global outcomes. Conventional antipsychotics have limited efficacy against these symptoms and poor tolerability profiles. Atypical antipsychotics are an alternative treatment, and this 12-week, randomised, flexibly dosed study compared the efficacy, safety and tolerability of quetiapine and olanzapine in this regard.

Genetic and immunological factors interact in a mouse model of CNS antiphospholipid syndrome.

The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) includes systemic and central nervous system (CNS) pathology associated with antibodies to a complex of phospholipids and beta(2)-glycoprotein I (beta(2)-GPI). We have recently reported the induction of APS associated with behavioral and cognitive deficits in BALB/c female mice that developed 4-5 months after immunization with beta(2)-GPI. In the present study, we examined the influence of genetic factors on the ability to induce experimental APS with CNS involvement by testing several mouse strains immunized with beta(2)-GPI.

Latent inhibition and overswitching in schizophrenia.

Attention disorders in schizophrenia are manifested in two different ways. On the one hand, the schizophrenia patient tends to keep a learned response even after it ceases to be relevant (perseveration). On the other hand, the schizophrenia patient tends to replace an adaptive response without being given a reason to do so (overswitching).

Effect of neuroleptic administration on serum levels of soluble IL-2 receptor-alpha and IL-1 receptor antagonist in schizophrenic patients.

Activation of the inflammatory response system has been reported in schizophrenia. Levels of serum IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) and soluble IL-2 receptor (sIL-2R(alpha)) were studied in 32 schizophrenic and 22 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects before and after an 8-week treatment protocol. Psychopathology was assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).

Hepatotoxicity, leucopenia and neutropenia associated with olanzapine therapy.

Hepatotoxicity, leukopenia and neutropenia are rarely associated with atypical antipsychotic drug therapy. The authors describe a case of a schizophrenic patient, who was treated twice with olanzapine, and who developed an increase of hepatic enzymes, jaundice, reduced WBC, neutropenia, and a high temperature. The patient was diagnosed as suffering from hepatocellular hepatitis, neutropenia and leucopenia.

Overproduction of neutrophil radical oxygen species correlates with negative symptoms in schizophrenic patients: parallel studies on neutrophil chemotaxis, superoxide production and bactericidal activity.

Defective neutrophil function in schizophrenic patients has recently been reported. There are several lines of evidence to support the contribution of oxygen free radicals in schizophrenia, including increased lipid peroxidation, fatty acids and alterations in blood levels of anti-oxidant enzymes. Eighteen schizophrenic patients (DSM-IV) and 15 healthy controls were studied.

Mental pain: a multidimensional operationalization and definition.

An operationalization of mental pain is presented in three studies. The first study describes the operationalization of mental pain and the factor structure of the items produced by a content analysis of self-reports yielding a scale with nine factors: the experience of irreversibility, loss of control, narcissistic wounds, emotional flooding, freezing, estrangement, confusion, social distancing, and emptiness. Study 2 tested the relationship between mental pain and depression and anxiety in a normal population.

Perseveration and over-switching in schizophrenia.

Perseveration and switching in positive and negative schizophrenic patients are usually seen as manifestations of attention disorders. They may be closely related to each other, but have not been investigated in an integrated fashion. Such integrated investigation could contribute to the neurophysiological understanding of the relationship between the regional and the pharmacological deficit in schizophrenia.

Meige's syndrome associated with neuroleptic treatment and alcohol abuse.

Meige's syndrome is characterized by blepharospasm and oromandibular dystonia. A case is presented in association with long-term neuroleptic administration and alcohol abuse. This syndrome may be a variant of tardive dystonia.

Behavioral and cognitive deficits occur only after prolonged exposure of mice to antiphospholipid antibodies.

The antiphospholipid (Hughes) syndrome (APS) includes systemic and central nervous system (CNS) pathology associated with antibodies to a complex of phospholipids and beta2-glycoprotein I (beta2-GPI). Beta2-GPI immunized mice develop systemic manifestations of APS and we presently examined CNS manifestations in this APS model. Female BALB/c mice were immunized once with beta2-GPI in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) or with CFA alone (controls).

Association of promoter variants in the alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit gene with an inhibitory deficit found in schizophrenia.

Background: The alpha7 neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit gene (CHRNA7) has been implicated as a candidate gene for schizophrenia, and for an auditory sensory processing deficit found in the disease, by both genetic linkage at 15q14 and biochemical data. The expression of CHRNA7 is reduced in several brain regions in schizophrenic subjects compared with control subjects. This study presents DNA sequence analysis of the core promoter region for CHRNA7 in schizophrenic and control subjects.

Clinical characteristics of neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism.

In order to characterize the clinical spectrum of neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism (NIP), we studied a population of consecutive psychiatric in-patients treated with neuroleptics for at least two weeks, who were diagnosed by their psychiatrist as having parkinsonism. Parkinsonism was confirmed by a movement disorders specialist who performed neurological assessment including the motor examination and the activities of daily living (ADL) sections of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), and the Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) staging. Seventy-five patients (54 males), aged 46 +/- 13 years (range 21 to 73 years) were included in the analysis.

Eight-year follow-up of olanzapine therapy in a previous treatment-refractory schizophrenic patient: a case report.

The introduction of atypical antipsychotic drugs during the 1990s represented a great step forward in the treatment of schizophrenia and other psychoses. These drugs might more effectively prevent relapse because of their effectiveness against a wider range of schizophrenic symptoms, as well as their improved tolerability, which leads to improved medication compliance. Olanzapine, a thienobenzodiazapine, is an antipsychotic drug with high affinity for the serotonergic receptors 5-HT 2 and 5-HT 6 and high affinity for dopaminergic receptors, mainly D2, D3 and D4, and with a lower propensity to cause extrapyramidal symptoms or increasing prolactin levels.

Werner's syndrome (adult progeria): an affected mother and son presenting with resistant psychosis.

Age-related psychotic conditions may be studied by focusing on the unique group of progeroid syndromes. This report will focus on Werner's syndrome, one of the better defined and studied progeroid syndromes. We applied clinical and histophysiological evaluations to two patients, a mother and son, suffering from Werner's syndrome.

Higher natural killer cell activity in schizophrenic patients: the impact of serum factors, medication, and smoking.

Schizophrenia has been associated with altered immunity and reduced occurrence of autoimmune diseases and malignancies. A few studies in schizophrenic patients have assessed natural killer cell activity (NKA), but no consistent findings have emerged. However, NKA was assessed using standard procedures and in the absence of autologous serum and the various cytokines that modulate NKA and appear to be abnormal in schizophrenic patients.