Effects of risperidone and haloperidol on superoxide dismutase and nitric oxide in schizophrenia.

Oxidative stress may be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. No double-blind study has compared the effects of typical and atypical antipsychotics on both antioxidant enzyme activity and nitric oxide (NO) levels in schizophrenic patients. Seventy-eight inpatients with chronic schizophrenia were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of treatment with 6 mg/day of risperidone or 20 mg/day of haloperidol using a double-blind design.

Individual and societal impact on earnings associated with serious mental illness in metropolitan China.

To evaluate individual-level and societal-level losses of income associated with serious mental illness in metropolitan China, a multi-stage probability survey was administered to adults aged 18-70 years in Beijing and Shanghai. We used data to estimate individual-level expected earnings from a model that included information about the respondents' education level, marital status, age, and gender. Expected earnings were compared to observed earnings among respondents with mental illness and serious disability.

[The establishment of an animal model of gut-brain interaction in irritable bowel syndrome for the evaluation of visceral sensation, motility and psychological behavior.].

Objective: To develop a gut-brain interaction animal model of IBS which combines multiple factors including behavior, visceral sensation and motility.

Methods: Setting up a multifactor interactional animal model (chronic acute combining stress model, CACS) based on a chronic unpredictable mild stress model of depression (CUMS) while combined with wrap restraint stress (WRS), changes of some indexes were recorded including motility (granules of defecating, time of defecating), visceral sensitivity (spontaneous contraction of abdominal striated muscles) and behavior/mind (sucrose consumption, body weight). G protein subunits were measured by Western blot in both hippocampus and prefrontal cortex simultaneously.

Impaired role functioning and treatment rates for mental disorders and chronic physical disorders in metropolitan China.

Objectives: To compare impairments in role functioning and treatment rate of mental disorders and chronic physical disorders in the general population of metropolitan China.

Method: Face-to-face household interviews of 5201 people aged 18 to 70 years in Beijing and Shanghai were conducted from November 2001 to February 2002, using a multistage household probability sampling method. The World Mental Health version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI) was used for assessing sociodemographic characteristics, diagnoses, and treatment.

Associations of cohort and socio-demographic correlates with transitions from alcohol use to disorders and remission in metropolitan China.

Aims: To examine socio-demographic associations of transitions from alcohol use to disorders and of remission from disorders in metropolitan China.

Design And Setting: Face-to-face interviewing by trained lay-interviewers on a multi-staged, clustered sample from the general population of Beijing and Shanghai, China.

Participants: A total of 5201 adults aged 18-70 years and with household registration.

Association of SNPs and haplotypes in APOL1, 2 and 4 with schizophrenia.

Prior work found the APOL1, 2 and 4 genes, located on chromosome 22q12.3-q13.1, to be upregulated in brains of schizophrenic patients.

Lifetime prevalence and inter-cohort variation in DSM-IV disorders in metropolitan China.

Background: This is the first study to examine variation across cohorts in lifetime risk of DSM-IV mental disorders in metropolitan China.

Method: Face-to-face household interviews of 2633 adults in Beijing and 2568 adults in Shanghai were conducted from November 2001 to February 2002 using a multi-stage household probability sampling method. The Chinese World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative version of the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI) was used for assessment.

Twelve-month prevalence, severity, and unmet need for treatment of mental disorders in metropolitan China.

Background: Psychiatric epidemiological surveys in China have repeatedly found much lower prevalence estimates than in most other parts of the world.

Method: Face-to-face household interviews of 5201 subjects (2633 in Beijing and 2568 in Shanghai respectively) were conducted from November 2001 to February 2002 using a multistage household probability sampling method. A Chinese version of the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was used for assessment.

Cortisol and cytokines in chronic and treatment-resistant patients with schizophrenia: association with psychopathology and response to antipsychotics.

The bilateral communication between the immune and neuroendocrine systems plays an essential role in modulating the adequate response of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis to the stimulatory influence of cytokines and stress-related mediators. Growing evidence suggests that neuro-immune-endocrine crosstalk may be impaired in schizophrenia. We determined the relationship between cortisol, cytokines interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), and symptoms in schizophrenia during treatment with typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs.

Changes in serum interleukin-2, -6, and -8 levels before and during treatment with risperidone and haloperidol: relationship to outcome in schizophrenia.

Background: Many studies have indicated that immune cytokines may be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Recently, there have been reports that typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs may influence the levels of cytokines or cytokine receptors. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs on serum interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-8 (IL-8) and to investigate the relationship between the changes in cytokines and the therapeutic outcome in schizophrenia.

Prolactin levels in male schizophrenic patients treated with risperidone and haloperidol: a double-blind and randomized study.

Rationale: There are few data from systematic, double-blind clinical trials that have compared the effect of the typical and the atypical antipsychotics on serum prolactin (PRL) levels in patients with schizophrenia.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to compare the effect of risperidone and haloperidol on serum PRL and investigate the relationship between serum PRL levels and clinical response in patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: Seventy-eight inpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (according to DSM-III-R) were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of treatment with 6 mg/day of risperidone or 20 mg/day of haloperidol after a 2-week washout period, using a randomized, double-blind design.

Mutation screening and association study of the beta-adrenergic receptor kinase 2 gene in schizophrenia families.

Chromosome 22q12 is one of the most promising regions for harboring a risk gene for schizophrenia. We have reported significant linkage of intermediate phenotypes for schizophrenia with markers within or near the beta-adrenergic receptor kinase 2 (ADRBK2, or GRK3) gene, which is highly expressed in dopaminergic pathways in the central nervous system, and mediates homologous desensitization for a variety of neurotransmitters and hormones through phosphorylation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). A polymorphism in the promoter region of the ADRBK2 was reported to be associated with bipolar disorder.

Family-based association study of the NOTCH4 gene in schizophrenia using Japanese and Chinese samples.

Background: A family based association study in a British sample found the NOTCH4 gene to be associated with schizophrenia; however, all six replication studies failed to confirm the finding.

Methods: We performed a family based association study of NOTCH4 and schizophrenia in 123 trios (16 Japanese and 107 Chinese). In addition to the original study's polymorphisms, we examined four new single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)--SNPs_A, B, C and D--around SNP1 of the original study.

Family-based association study of markers on chromosome 22 in schizophrenia using African-American, European-American, and Chinese families.

Several studies suggest that loci at chromosome 22q11.2-q13 might be linked to susceptibility to schizophrenia. Here we performed family-based association studies on chromosome 22q using 12 DNA microsatellite markers in African-American, European-American, and Chinese pedigrees.

The effect of risperidone treatment on superoxide dismutase in schizophrenia.

Some reports have shown that schizophrenia is accompanied by the abnormal metabolism of free radicals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the atypical antipsychotic drug risperidone on blood superoxide dismutase (SOD), a critical enzyme in the detoxification of superoxide radicals, and to explore the relationship between changes in SOD and the therapeutic outcome. Forty-one inpatients with diagnosed schizophrenia (DSM-III-R) were assigned to 12 weeks of treatment with risperidone at a fixed dosage of 6 mg/d after a 2-week washout period.

Elevated interleukin-2, interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 serum levels in neuroleptic-free schizophrenia: association with psychopathology.

Cytokines have been one of the recent focal points of immunological research in schizophrenia. The present study was to assess the serum levels of some of interleukins in schizophrenia and their relationships with the psychopathological parameters. Seventy physically healthy Chinese patients, who met DSM-III-R criteria for schizophrenia and who were drug-free for at least 2 weeks, were compared with 30 age- and sex-matched Chinese normal controls.

Risperidone-induced increase in serum prolactin is correlated with positive symptom improvement in chronic schizophrenia.

The elevation in serum prolactin (PRL) concentration in schizophrenic patients treated with typical antipsychotic drugs is well documented. Recently, increased prolactin levels have been reported in patients taking risperidone. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of the atypical antipsychotic drug risperidone on serum prolactin, and to investigate the relationship between the change in PRL and the therapeutic outcome.