Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio in Patients With a First Episode of Psychosis: A Two-Year Longitudinal Follow-up Study.

Background And Hypothesis: A pro-inflammatory phenotype has been related to psychotic disorders. The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an accessible biomarker that could be helpful to characterize this systemic inflammation state.

Study Design: This study evaluated the NLR in a cohort of 310 subjects with a first episode of psychosis (FEP) and a matched group of 215 healthy controls, recruited in 16 Spanish centers participating in the PEPs Project.

[Evaluation of the functionality and subjective well-being of bipolar patients with the Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST) and the World Health Organization - Five Well- Being Index (WHO-5)].

Introduction: Bipolar Disorders (BD) are a mood disorders group charactered by recurrent manic or hypomanic episodes, alternating with depressive episodes. Its prevalence is 4%, and several studies have shown that they generate disability. There are effective therapeutic options for acute episodes.

Prefrontal abnormalities, executive dysfunction and symptoms severity are modulated by COMT ValMet polymorphism in first episode psychosis.

Introduction: Core dysfunctions proposed for psychotic disorders include prefrontal cortex (PFC) dopaminergic hypoactivity, executive function (EF) deficits and reduced gray matter in the PFC. The Val variant of COMT ValMet polymorphism is associated with reduced dopaminergic signaling in the PFC. However, it is unclear how COMT ValMet modulates PFC gray matter reduction, EF deficits and symptom severity at the time of the first psychotic episode.

Smartphone-based interventions in bipolar disorder: Systematic review and meta-analyses of efficacy. A position paper from the International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) Big Data Task Force.

Background: The clinical effects of smartphone-based interventions for bipolar disorder (BD) have yet to be established.

Objectives: To examine the efficacy of smartphone-based interventions in BD and how the included studies reported user-engagement indicators.

Methods: We conducted a systematic search on January 24, 2022, in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, APA PsycINFO, and Web of Science.

Demographic and clinical characteristics of lithium-treated older adults with bipolar disorder.

Objectives: There is limited information on the characteristics of older adults with bipolar disorder (OABD) treated with lithium, along with safety concerns about its use by older adults. The aim of the present study is to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of OABD receiving lithium therapy, using data from the Global Ageing & Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder (GAGE-BD).

Experimental Procedures: Cross-sectional analysis of the GAGE-BD dataset to determine differences and similarities between lithium users and non-users.

The prescriber's guide to classic MAO inhibitors (phenelzine, tranylcypromine, isocarboxazid) for treatment-resistant depression.

This article is a clinical guide which discusses the "state-of-the-art" usage of the classic monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) antidepressants (phenelzine, tranylcypromine, and isocarboxazid) in modern psychiatric practice. The guide is for all clinicians, including those who may not be experienced MAOI prescribers. It discusses indications, drug-drug interactions, side-effect management, and the safety of various augmentation strategies.

Clinical and psychopathological correlates of duration of untreated illness (DUI) in affective spectrum disorders.

Affective disorders represent psychopathological entities lying on a continuum, characterized by high prevalence and functional impairment. A delay in treatment initiation might increase the burden associated with affective spectrum disorders. The present study was aimed at analyzing the correlates of a long duration of untreated illness (DUI) in these conditions.

Insulin resistance in depression: A large meta-analysis of metabolic parameters and variation.

Increased insulin resistance is recognized in psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but its occurrence in depression is less clear. Our aims were to verify if insulin resistance is altered in depression, to test the metabolic subgroup hypothesis of depression and if there are changes with antidepressants. Inclusion criteria were studies including adult subjects with depression and either a control group or follow-up after treatment with antidepressants, and assessing fasting insulin or glucose levels or the Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) index.

Aging in bipolar disorder: Cognitive performance and clinical factors based on an adulthood-lifespan perspective.

Background: The evolution of cognitive performance throughout the lifespan in bipolar disorder (BD) is understudied. This cross-sectional study aims to describe the cognitive performance across age groups.

Methods: A sample of 654 participants was recruited for this study (BD = 432 and healthy controls -HC- =222).

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Program for Cannabis Use Cessation in First-Episode Psychosis Patients: A 1-Year Randomized Controlled Trial.

Despite the negative influence of cannabis use on the development and prognosis of first-episode psychosis (FEP), there is little evidence on effective specific interventions for cannabis use cessation in FEP. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of a specific cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for cannabis cessation (CBT-CC) with treatment as usual (TAU) in FEP cannabis users. In this single-blind, 1-year randomized controlled trial, 65 participants were randomly assigned to CBT-CC or TAU.

Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Antipsychotic Drug-Treated Older Adults with Bipolar Disorder from the Global Aging & Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Database (GAGE-BD).

Objectives: Antipsychotic drugs (APS) are widely used to treat patients with bipolar disorder (BD), but there is limited information in older-age bipolar disorder (OABD). This analysis of the Global Aging & Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Database (GAGE-BD) investigated characteristics of OABD patients prescribed APS vs. those not prescribed APS.

Immune-Inflammatory Biomarkers Predict Cognition and Social Functioning in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and Schizophrenia: A 1-Year Follow-Up Study.

Background: Systemic, low-grade immune-inflammatory activity, together with social and neurocognitive performance deficits are a transdiagnostic trait of people suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and severe mental illnesses (SMIs), such as schizophrenia (SZ), major depressive disorder (MDD), and bipolar disorder (BD). We aimed to determine if immune-inflammatory mediators were significantly altered in people with SMIs or T2DM compared with healthy controls (HC) and whether these biomarkers could help predict their cognition and social functioning 1 year after assessment.

Methods: We performed a prospective, 1-year follow-up cohort study with 165 participants at baseline (TB), including 30 with SZ, 42 with BD, 35 with MDD, 30 with T2DM, and 28 HC; and 125 at 1-year follow-up (TY), and determined executive domain (ED), global social functioning score (GSFS), and peripheral blood immune-inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers.

Genetic and Structural Brain Correlates of Cognitive Subtypes Across Youth at Family Risk for Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder.

Objective: Cognitive impairment is an important feature of schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BP) with severity across the two disorders characterized by significant heterogeneity. Youth at family risk for SZ and BP were clustered based on cognitive function and examined in terms of the clinical, genetic, and brain imaging correlates of cluster membership.

Method: One hundred sixty participants, 32 offspring of patients with SZ, 59 offspring of patients with BP and 69 offspring of healthy control parents underwent clinical and cognitive assessments, genotyping and structural MRI.

Maternal Dietary Inflammatory Index during Pregnancy Is Associated with Perinatal Outcomes: Results from the IMPACT BCN Trial.

The information available on the effects of maternal dietary habits on systemic inflammation and adverse maternal outcomes is limited. We aimed to evaluate whether Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) score during pregnancy is associated with maternal body mass index (BMI), Mediterranean diet (MD) adherence, and perinatal outcomes. At 19−23 weeks’ gestation, 1028 pregnant women were recruited.

Link between cognitive polygenic risk scores and clinical progression after a first-psychotic episode.

Background: Clinical intervention in early stages of psychotic disorders is crucial for the prevention of severe symptomatology trajectories and poor outcomes. Genetic variability is studied as a promising modulator of prognosis, thus novel approaches considering the polygenic nature of these complex phenotypes are required to unravel the mechanisms underlying the early progression of the disorder.

Methods: The sample comprised of 233 first-episode psychosis (FEP) subjects with clinical and cognitive data assessed periodically for a 2-year period and 150 matched controls.

Expert consensus recommendations on the use of randomized clinical trials for drug approval in psychiatry- comparing trial designs.

The use of randomized clinical trials, in particular placebo-controlled trials, for drug approval, is the subject of long-standing debate in the scientific community and beyond. This study offers consensus recommendations from clinical and academic experts to guide the selection of clinical trial design in psychiatry. Forty-one highly cited clinical psychiatrists and/or researchers participated in a Delphi survey.

Metabolic polygenic risk scores effect on antipsychotic-induced metabolic dysregulation: A longitudinal study in a first episode psychosis cohort.

Objective: Metabolic syndrome is a health-threatening condition suffered by approximately one third of schizophrenia patients and largely attributed to antipsychotic medication. Previous evidence reports a common genetic background of psychotic and metabolic disorders. In this study, we aimed to assess the role of polygenic risk scores (PRSs) on the progression of the metabolic profile in a first-episode psychosis (FEP) cohort.

Symptom Severity Mixity in Older-Age Bipolar Disorder: Analyses From the Global Aging and Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Database (GAGE-BD).

Objective: Some individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) experience manic and depressive symptoms concurrently, but data are limited on symptom mixity in older age bipolar disorder (OABD). Using the Global Aging & Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Database, we characterized mixity in OABD and associations with everyday function.

Methods: The sample (n = 805), from 12 international studies, included cases with both mania and depression severity ratings at a single timepoint.

The U-shaped relationship between parental age and the risk of bipolar disorder in the offspring: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Parenthood age may affect the risk for the development of different psychiatric disorders in the offspring, including bipolar disorder (BD). The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to appraise the relationship between paternal age and risk for BD and to explore the eventual relationship between paternal age and age at onset of BD. We searched the MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, PsycINFO online databases for original studies from inception, up to December 2021.

Shaped before birth: Obstetric complications identify a more severe clinical phenotype among patients presenting a first affective or non-affective episode of psychosis.

Obstetric complications (OCs) may contribute to the heterogeneity that characterizes psychiatric illness, particularly the phenotypic presentation of first episode psychoses (FEP). Our aim was to examine the relationship between OCs and socio-demographic, clinical, functioning and neuropsychological characteristics in affective and non-affective FEP. We performed a cross-sectional,study where we recruited participants with FEP between 2011 and 2021, and retrospectively assessed OCs using the Lewis-Murray scale.

The network structure of cognitive deficits in first episode psychosis patients.

Network analysis is an important conceptual and analytical approach in mental health research. However, few studies have used network analysis to examine the structure of cognitive performance in psychotic disorders. We examined the network structure of the cognitive scores of a sample of 207 first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients and 188 healthy controls.

Minimal Effects of Cariprazine on Prolactin Levels in Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia.

Background: Many medications used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder are linked to hyperprolactinemia. The effects of cariprazine, a dopamine D/D receptor partial agonist, on prolactin levels in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder were evaluated.

Methods: Effects on prolactin were evaluated using pooled data from randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies in patients with schizophrenia (4 studies; 6-week duration; cariprazine 1.