Review of international early psychosis programmes and a model to overcome unique challenges to the treatment of early psychosis in the United States.

Aim: This article presents a literature review of treatments for first-episode psychosis throughout the world and describes the POTENTIAL (Patient-Oriented Treatment for Early or New onset schizophrenia To Initiate A Long-term recovery) Early Psychosis Programme in detail, explaining the model and the rationale, as well as the uniqueness of the programme.

Methods: An international search was conducted for English articles using PubMed, PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES, as well as the reference lists of published studies and reviews. One article that is currently in press was included, which was not part of the original literature search.

Enhanced sensitivity to the euphoric effects of alcohol in schizophrenia.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether schizophrenia was associated with alterations in alcohol response that might explain the elevated risk for AUDs in this population. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, counter-balanced 3 test day laboratory study, the effects of alcohol were compared in 23 subjects with schizophrenia (without any previous alcohol use disorder (AUD) but with some alcohol exposure) and in 14 healthy subjects matched for age, gender, education, and lifetime exposure to alcohol. Standard alcohol drinks in a scheduled design were administered to produce blood alcohol levels of 0, 0.

Potentiation of low dose ketamine effects by naltrexone: potential implications for the pharmacotherapy of alcoholism.

The interplay of opiate and NMDA glutamate receptors may contribute to psychosis, cognitive function, alcoholism, and substance dependence. Ketamine and ethanol block the NMDA glutamate receptor. The purpose of this randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled human laboratory study was to evaluate whether the interactive effects of drugs acting at opiate and NMDA glutamate receptors might partially explain the efficacy of naltrexone for the treatment of alcoholism, that is, whether naltrexone 25 mg pretreatment would modulate ketamine effects in healthy human subjects.

Comparative and interactive human psychopharmacologic effects of ketamine and amphetamine: implications for glutamatergic and dopaminergic model psychoses and cognitive function.

Background: In healthy individuals, ketamine hydrochloride and amphetamine sulfate produce cognitive, behavioral, and subjective effects resembling endogenous psychoses. Studying the comparative and interactive effects of these agents may provide insights into the roles of the glutamate and monoamine systems in psychosis and cognition.

Objectives: To directly compare the effects of ketamine and amphetamine and to explore their interactive effects within individuals.

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol effects in schizophrenia: implications for cognition, psychosis, and addiction.

Background: Recent advances in the neurobiology of cannabinoids have renewed interest in the association between cannabis and psychotic disorders.

Methods: In a 3-day, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, the behavioral, cognitive, motor, and endocrine effects of 0 mg, 2.5 mg, and 5 mg intravenous Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-9-THC) were characterized in 13 stable, antipsychotic-treated schizophrenia patients.

Absence of behavioral sensitization in healthy human subjects following repeated exposure to ketamine.

Rationale: Sensitization to the effects of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor antagonists is robust in animals. However, the applicability of this model to humans is unclear because it currently rests on highly confounded retrospective studies of individuals who experienced protracted psychoses following repeated binges with NMDA receptor antagonists.

Objectives: The purpose of the current study was to determine whether there was evidence of sensitization to the behavioral effects of ketamine in healthy human subjects with repeated exposure to this drug.

Effect of treatment status on prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle in schizophrenia.

Rationale: The acoustic startle response is inhibited when the startling stimulus is preceded by a weaker non-startling acoustic stimulus. This phenomenon, termed prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle (PPI), is impaired in schizophrenics compared to normal controls. To date, there is conflicting evidence regarding whether PPI impairments improve with antipsychotic treatment.