Can brexpiprazole be switched safely in patients with schizophrenia and dopamine supersensitivity psychosis? A retrospective analysis in a real-world clinical practice.

Background: Several studies have reported that a switch to the dopamine partial agonist (DPA) aripiprazole (ARP), especially when the switch is abrupt, is likely to fail and sometimes worsen psychosis in schizophrenia patients already under high-dose antipsychotic treatment. Such a switching failure is speculated to be related to be the dopamine supersensitivity state. The risks of switching to the DPA brexpiprazole (BREX) have not been reported.

A randomized-controlled trial of blonanserin and olanzapine as adjunct to antipsychotics in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia and dopamine supersensitivity psychosis: The ROADS study.

Dopamine supersensitivity psychosis (DSP) is a key factor contributing to the development of antipsychotic treatment-resistant schizophrenia. We examined the efficacy and safety of blonanserin (BNS) and olanzapine (OLZ) as adjuncts to prior antipsychotic treatment in patients with schizophrenia and DSP in a 24-week, multicenter (17 sites), randomized, rater-blinded study with two parallel groups (BNS and OLZ add-on treatments) in patients with schizophrenia and DSP: the ROADS Study. The primary outcome was the change in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score from baseline to week 24.

A randomized, sham-controlled study of high frequency rTMS for auditory hallucination in schizophrenia.

Chronic auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) in patients with schizophrenia are sometimes resistant to standard pharmacotherapy. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may be a promising treatment modality for AVHs, but the best protocol has yet to be identified. We used a double-blind randomized sham-controlled design aimed at 30 patients (active group N=16 vs.

Increased serum levels of serine enantiomers in patients with depression.

Objective: Glutamatergic neurotransmission via the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor is integral to the pathophysiology of depression. This study was performed to examine whether amino acids related to NMDA receptor neurotransmission are altered in the serum of patients with depression.

Method: We measured the serum levels of d-serine, l-serine, glycine, glutamate and glutamine in patients with depression (n=70), and age-matched healthy subjects (n=78).

An Open Study of Sulforaphane-rich Broccoli Sprout Extract in Patients with Schizophrenia.

Objective: Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by severe cognitive impairment. Accumulating evidence suggests a role for oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Sulforaphane (SFN) extracted from broccoli sprout is an agent with potent anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activity.

Second-generation antipsychotics and bone turnover in schizophrenia.

Accumulating evidence suggests that patients with schizophrenia are exposed to a high risk of osteoporosis/osteopenia caused by long-term antipsychotic treatment. The degree of bone mineral density (BMD) loss that a given antipsychotic may cause is not known. Examinations using a bone turnover marker may more accurately predict the ongoing bone states in psychiatric patients.

A positive correlation between serum levels of mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

A meta-analysis study reported serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels as a potential biomarker for schizophrenia. However, at the time, commercially available human ELISA kits were unable to distinguish between pro-BDNF (precursor BDNF) and mature BDNF, because of limited antibody specificity. Here, we used new ELISA kits, to examine serum levels of mature BDNF and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), which converts pro-BDNF to mature BDNF in schizophrenia.

Onset Pattern and Long-Term Prognosis in Schizophrenia: 10-Year Longitudinal Follow-Up Study.

Background: Although the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) plays an important role in the short-term prognosis of patients with schizophrenia, their long-term prognosis generally is not determined by DUP alone. It is important to explore how other clinical factors in the early stage are related to DUP and consequent disease courses.

Methods: A total of 664 patients with untreated psychosis were surveyed for this study.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of fluvoxamine in patients with schizophrenia: a preliminary study.

Cognitive impairments in schizophrenia are associated with suboptimal psychosocial performance. Several lines of evidence have suggested that endoplasmic reticulum protein sigma-1 receptors were involved in cognitive impairments in patients with schizophrenia and that the sigma-1 receptor agonist fluvoxamine was effective in treating cognitive impairments in animal models of schizophrenia and in some patients with schizophrenia. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel trial of fluvoxamine adjunctive therapy in patients with schizophrenia was performed.

Decreased serum levels of mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), but not its precursor proBDNF, in patients with major depressive disorder.

Background: Meta-analyses have identified serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a potential biomarker for major depressive disorder (MDD). However, at the time, commercially available human ELISA kits are unable to distinguish between proBDNF (precursor of BDNF) and mature BDNF because of limited BDNF antibody specificity. In this study, we examined whether serum levels of proBDNF, mature BDNF, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), which converts proBDNF to mature BDNF, are altered in patients with MDD.

Occupancy of α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors in the Brain by Tropisetron: A Positron Emission Tomography Study Using [(11)C]CHIBA-1001 in Healthy Human Subjects.

Objective: Agonists of α7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) have been developed as potential therapeutic drugs for neuropsychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. Positron emission tomography (PET) is a noninvasive brain imaging technique to measure receptor occupancy in the living human brain. Although much effort has been expended to create specific PET radioligands for α7-nAChRs in the brain, only 4-[(11)C]methylphenyl-1,4-diazabicyclo[3.

Observation of induced longitudinal and shear acoustic phonons by Brillouin scattering.

To improve the accuracy of velocity measurements in the Brillouin scattering technique using weak thermal phonons, we have used induced coherent phonons, which intensify the scattering. To induce phonons in the gigahertz range, we used a c-axis tilted ZnO film transducer that was developed in our laboratory. This allowed us to induce longitudinal and shear acoustic phonons effectively at hypersonic frequencies.

Criterion and construct validity of the CogState Schizophrenia Battery in Japanese patients with schizophrenia.

Background: The CogState Schizophrenia Battery (CSB), a computerized cognitive battery, covers all the same cognitive domains as the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) Consensus Cognitive Battery but is briefer to conduct. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the criterion and construct validity of the Japanese language version of the CSB (CSB-J) in Japanese patients with schizophrenia.

Methodology/principal Findings: Forty Japanese patients with schizophrenia and 40 Japanese healthy controls with matching age, gender, and premorbid intelligence quotient were enrolled.

A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of tropisetron in patients with schizophrenia.

Background: Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia are associated with psychosocial deficits that are primarily responsible for the poor long-term outcome of this disease. Auditory sensory gating P50 deficits are correlated with neuropsychological deficits in attention, one of the principal cognitive disturbances in schizophrenia. Our studies suggest that the alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (alpha7 nAChR) agonist tropisetron might be a potential therapeutic drug for cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.