Open, randomized trial of the effects of aripiprazole versus risperidone on social cognition in schizophrenia.

To date, only few studies have examined the impact of medication on social cognition and none have examined the effects of aripiprazole in this respect. The goal of this 8-week, randomized, multicenter, open-label study was to examine the effects of aripiprazole and risperidone on social cognition and neurocognition in individuals with schizophrenia. Eighty schizophrenia patients (DSM-IV-TR) aged 16-50 years were administered multiple computerized measures of social cognition and neurocognition including reaction times at baseline and the end of week 8.

Dyspepsia in chronic psychiatric patients.

Introduction: We report on dyspeptic complaints among patients hospitalized in the long-stay ward of a general psychiatric hospital.

Methods: A representative sample of the patients was interviewed using a structured questionnaire.

Results: Eighty percent of the patients reported one or more symptoms of dyspepsia, and 68 % reported symptoms of reflux-like dyspepsia.

Oral risperidone with lorazepam versus oral zuclopenthixol with lorazepam in the treatment of acute psychosis in emergency psychiatry: a prospective, comparative, open-label study.

Acutely psychotic patients presenting as psychiatric emergencies with aggression or agitation are often administered conventional antipsychotics intramuscularly. However, patients view intramuscular administration as coercive, and conventional antipsychotics are often associated with adverse events. In this open study, consecutive adult patients presenting with an acute exacerbation of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder were assigned to oral risperidone 2-6 mg/day (n = 48) or oral zuclopenthixol 20-50 mg/day (n = 27) for 7-14 days.

Retrospective evaluation of the effect of omeprazole on clozapine metabolism.

Objective: To study the effect of the replacement of omeprazole by pantoprazole on clozapine metabolism in 13 psychiatric patients, who used both clozapine and omeprazole.

Method: Retrospective study of the medical files.

Results: In comparison to smokers, a significant rise of the serum clozapine levels was observed in all non-smoking patients, whilst the daily dose of clozapine remained unchanged.

Effect of light therapy on biopterin, neopterin and tryptophan in patients with seasonal affective disorder.

The serotonergic system is believed to play a key role in the pathophysiology of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Tetrahydrobiopterin is an essential cofactor in the hydroxylation of tryptophan and, therefore, in the synthesis of serotonin, while neopterin is known as a marker of cell-mediated immune activity. The present study was designed to measure levels of biopterin, neopterin and tryptophan in plasma of 19 depressed patients with a history of SAD, before and after light therapy as well as in a control group.