A self-reported instrument for prodromal symptoms of psychosis: testing the clinical validity of the PRIME Screen-Revised (PS-R) in a Japanese population.

Objective: Early intervention for psychosis requires an easy, useful assessment instrument to identify subjects with prodromal symptoms at an early stage. The aim of this study was to test the clinical validity of the PRIME Screen-Revised (PS-R), a 12-item self-reported instrument for prodromal symptoms of psychosis, by comparing the results for a non-clinical population with those for a clinical population.

Method: The PS-R was administered to 1,024 subjects (496 students and 528 outpatients).

Lipoprotein metabolism in Japanese centenarians: effects of apolipoprotein E polymorphism and nutritional status.

Objectives: To assess the complex interaction of apolipoprotein (apo) E polymorphisms and environmental factors on lipoprotein profile in centenarians.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis.

Setting: Tokyo metropolitan area.

The effects of pantethine on fatty liver and fat distribution.

Although the prognosis of fatty liver depends on its causes, we feel from our clinical experience that fatty liver with hypertriglyceridemia has a good prognosis and responds well to treatment. In this study, 600 mg/day of pantethine was administered to 16 outpatients with fatty liver and hypertriglyceridemia for six months or longer to examine whether the drug improved fatty liver using abdominal plain computed tomography (CT). Nine of the 16-pantethine patients were no longer diagnosed as having fatty liver after the study period.

Serum insulin-like growth factor-1 in centenarians: implications of IGF-1 as a rapid turnover protein.

Background: It is well documented that serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels as well as growth hormone secretion decline with advancing age. Low levels of IGF-1 are shown to be associated with low activity of growth hormone, low lean mass, and high body fat mass; however, in the elderly, the relationship has not been confirmed.

Methods: We studied serum IGF-1 levels in 49 centenarians, who are at the ultimate stage of physiological senescence, and investigated the possible relationship between IGF-1 and body mass index, lipid parameters, nutritional indices, physical and cognitive function, and frequency of hip fracture.