[Erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (eSOD) determination in positive moments of psychosis].

Dysregulation of free radical metabolism has been supposed to be involved in schizophrenia etiopathogeny. Recently, Wang et al. showed a red blood cell super oxide dismutase increase in positive schizophrenia (Crow's type I), but neither in negative schizophrenia (Crow's type II) nor in controls.

[Value of the determination of erythrocyte haloperidol ketone reductase activity in the evaluation of haloperidol therapy].

Serum levels of haloperidol and reduced haloperidol as well as the reduced haloperidol/haloperidol ratios were determined in nine acute schizophrenics on oral haloperidol medication and correlated over 21 days with psycho pathology and extra-pyramidal symptom scores. We have investigated red blood cells haloperidol reductase activity in the group of patients. Significant correlations were found between haloperidol plasma levels and positive sub scale for each patient (r = 0.

Cerebral blood flow in major depression and dysthymia.

Using single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) with a 99mTc-HMPAO perfusion technique, we studied the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) of 42 drug-free inpatients suffering from Major Depression' (n = 21) or dysthymia with the super-imposed diagnosis of a major depressive episode (n = 21). The patients with Major Depression had a significantly lower frontal and posterior rCBF ratio than those with Double Depression. Left frontal region indices showed a slight overlap between the two groups.

[A case of delusional melancholia: "a variant of loss of psychological self-activation"?].

A 62 year-old man presented with melancholia with delusions, possibly resulting from lenticular lesion in the left and frontal damages in the right. Atypical signs of our observation led us to consider our patient not as suffering of affective disorder. We suggest that melancholia could be a consequence of a certain type of stereotyped mental activity, and we would compare this stereotyped mental activity to mental compulsive activity described in "loss of psychic self activation" of D.

[Delusional melancholia and multiple lacunar infarcts of the basal ganglia].

A 72 years-old man presented with melancholia with delusions, possibly resulting from multiple lacunar infarcts in the basal ganglia. This case is akin to the syndrome of psychic akinesia and compulsive activity, resulting from lenticular nucleus lesions or frontal lobe lesions. We suggest that melancholia could be a consequence of a certain type of stereotyped mental activity and we would compare this stereotyped mental activity to stereotyped verbal activity in aphasia.