Treating panic symptoms within everyday clinical settings: the feasibility of a group cognitive behavioural intervention.

Panic disorder is a common and debilitating disorder that has a prevalence rate of 3-5% in the general population. Cognitive-behavioural interventions have been shown to be an efficacious treatment for panic, although a limited number of studies have examined the effectiveness of such interventions implemented in everyday clinical settings. The aim of the following pilot study was to examine the feasibility of a brief group cognitive-behavioural intervention carried out in a clinical setting.

The estrogen hypothesis of schizophrenia implicates glucose metabolism: association study in three independent samples.

Background: Schizophrenia is a highly heritable complex psychiatric disorder with an underlying pathophysiology that is still not well understood. Metaanalyses of schizophrenia linkage studies indicate numerous but rather large disease-associated genomic regions, whereas accumulating gene- and protein expression studies have indicated an equally large set of candidate genes that only partially overlap linkage genes. A thorough assessment, beyond the resolution of current GWA studies, of the disease risk conferred by the numerous schizophrenia candidate genes is a daunting and presently not feasible task.

Coercion in patients who at their first contact with the psychiatric services system were diagnosed within the schizophrenia-spectrum in Denmark. A register study.

The level of use of coercive measures in patients diagnosed with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder at their first contact with the psychiatric services system in Denmark is not known. The aim of the study was to investigate the level of use of coercive measures during first year of contact in this group of patients. Using the longitudinal national registers, the use of coercive measures for each individual was calculated in a 1-year period from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2001, for patients in Denmark who at their first contact with the psychiatric services system were diagnosed within the schizophrenia-spectrum (F2 in ICD 10); 2222 patients were identified.

[Cognitive milieu therapy and restraint within dual diagnosis populations].

Introduction: The use of restraint is common practice within psychiatry and is most frequently used with patients with a co-occurring serious mental illness and substance abuse or dual diagnosis. Furthermore restraint has being shown to have a negative impact on treatment outcomes and on the psychological wellbeing of patients. Cognitive behavioural therapy has been shown to contribute to positive treatment outcomes for a range of mental health problems, including schizophrenia and substance abuse.

Effect of integrated treatment on the use of coercive measures in first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. A randomized clinical trial.

The effect of integrated treatment on the use of coercive measures in first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum disorder in Denmark is not known. A total of 328 patients were randomly assigned to integrated treatment (167 patients) or standard treatment (161 patients). Integrated treatment consisted of assertive community treatment, psycho-educational multi-family groups, and social skills training.

Intensive treatment models and coercion.

Little evidence exists concerning the optimal treatment for patients with first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and the effect on traditional outcomes. The aim was to investigate whether optimal treatment models have an effect on the level of use of coercion and on traditional outcomes. Hospital-based Rehabilitation, an intensified inpatient treatment model, Integrated Treatment, an intensified model of Assertive Community Treatment, and standard treatment were compared for patients with first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.

Validity of the BPRS, the BDI and the BAI in dual diagnosis patients.

Aim: The psychometric properties of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were tested in a sample of 134 patients with a substance use disorder and a non-substance related psychiatric disorder in a special inpatient dual diagnosis treatment unit.

Methods: Subjects were assessed at baseline. At discharge on average 6 months post-intake, 78% of patients were re-assessed using the same instruments.

Toxic encephalopathy and noise-induced hearing loss.

In several laboratory animal studies, it has been documented that the hearing, vision, and brain can be injured due to exposure to organic solvents. This finding formed the background for a pilot study (n=16) aimed at identifying new ways of qualifying diagnostics, treatment, and rehabilitation of patients suffering from brain injury due to exposure to organic solvents, also referred to as toxic encephalopathy. Diagnosing toxic encephalopathy is complicated because the symptoms of this type of diffuse brain injury are non-specific.

Brain expressed microRNAs implicated in schizophrenia etiology.

Background: Protein encoding genes have long been the major targets for research in schizophrenia genetics. However, with the identification of regulatory microRNAs (miRNAs) as important in brain development and function, miRNAs genes have emerged as candidates for schizophrenia-associated genetic factors. Indeed, the growing understanding of the regulatory properties and pleiotropic effects that miRNA have on molecular and cellular mechanisms, suggests that alterations in the interactions between miRNAs and their mRNA targets may contribute to phenotypic variation.

Novel procedure for genotyping of the human serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR)--a region with a high level of allele diversity.

Background: The serotonin transporter, the target of a group of antidepressant drugs, is involved in the regulation of the availability and reuptake of serotonin. A variable number of tandem repeats in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene, designated 5-HTTLPR, affects the transcription of this gene and appears to modulate the susceptibility to a variety of diseases including depression. Of importance, 5-HTTLPR alleles composed of the same number of basic units may differ at single nucleotide positions providing an additional source of variation.

Diagnostic stability among chronic patients with functional psychoses: an epidemiological and clinical study.

Background: Diagnostic stability and illness course of chronic non-organic psychoses are complex phenomena and only few risk factors or predictors are known that can be used reliably. This study investigates the diagnostic stability during the entire course of illness in patients with non-organic psychoses and attempts to identify non-psychopathological risk factors or predictors.

Method: 100 patients with functional psychosis were initially characterised using the Operational Criteria Checklist for Psychotic Illness and Affective Illness (OPCRIT), medical records and health registers.

Association of a dopamine beta-hydroxylase gene variant with depression in elderly women possibly reflecting noradrenergic dysfunction.

Background: Depression has a multifactorial etiology which involves genetic factors and comorbid diseases.

Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 1371 elderly women (mean age=69.2 years) was examined.

[Depression--gender differences].

Unipolar depression is twice as frequent among women in fertile years compared to men. Current biological theories are that stages of life with declining levels of oestrogen could be a trigger of depression. Psychological theories are low self-esteem, sensitivity to lack of social support, comorbidity with anxiety, aggression turned inwards in women, outwards in men, whose comorbidity is alcohol abuse.

The tachykinin tale: molecular recognition in a historical perspective.

Crystallography, mutational mapping and crosslinking are but a few of the experimental techniques that have helped to elucidate the underlying principles of molecular recognition between macromolecules and to improve our understanding of the evolution of the structure-activity relationship (SAR). While this development has been particularly successful for small and rigid ligands and substrates that bind to larger hydrophilic biomolecules, our understanding of membrane-embedded proteins is still rather limited. This review uses the example of the neuropeptide family of tachykinins and their G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) to present how complementary experimental strategies over the past decades have nourished and modified conceptual models of the structural requisites of molecular recognition and function.

The acetylcholinesterase inhibitor galantamine inhibits d-amphetamine-induced psychotic-like behavior in Cebus monkeys.

Cholinergic receptors (AChR) are reported altered in brains from schizophrenic patients, and a growing body of evidence suggests that muscarinic receptor agonists exhibit antipsychotic potential. Centrally acting selective muscarinic receptor agonists are currently not available for clinical use, but acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors, which indirectly stimulate AChR by blocking the breakdown of acetylcholine by AChE, are widely used in the clinic against Alzheimer's disease. AChE inhibitors have been reported to exhibit antipsychotic efficacy in Alzheimer's disease patients, and these compounds have also been investigated as adjunctive treatment to antipsychotic medication in schizophrenic patients with varying results.

Substance abuse and first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. The Danish OPUS trial.

Aim: To evaluate whether integrated treatment (given by OPUS), in comparison with standard treatment, significantly reduced the number of patients with substance abuse and improved clinical and social outcome in the group of substance abusers after 2 years.

Methods: A total of 547 patients with first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum disorders were included in the study, 275 randomly assigned to OPUS treatment and 272 to standard treatment. OPUS treatment consisted of assertive community treatment with family involvement and social skills training.

Sexual desire in a nationally representative Danish population.

Introduction: There are only a few studies on the frequency of sexual desire in the general population, whereas studies investigating the frequency of disordered sexual desire are more common.

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the frequency of sexual desire in a representative sample of the adult Danish population and to analyze the relationships between a number of relevant variables and sexual desire.

Methods: The study population (N = 10,458, response rate 84.

Cognitive performance in elderly women: significance of the 19bp insertion/deletion polymorphism in the 5' flank of the dopamine beta-hydroxylase gene, educational level, body fat measures, serum triglyceride, alcohol consumption and age.

Background: Genetic and environmental factors influence cognitive aging. The gene encoding dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH) could be one such factor since this hydroxylase converts dopamine to norepinephrine both of which are involved in cognition regulation.

Objective: To assess the effect of the 19bp insertion/deletion polymorphism in the 5' flank of the DBH gene on cognitive performance in elderly women relative to other factors of cognitive aging.

GABA(A) receptor function is regulated by lipid bilayer elasticity.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and other polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) promote GABA(A) receptor [(3)H]-muscimol binding, and DHA increases the rate of GABA(A) receptor desensitization. Triton X-100, a structurally unrelated amphiphile, similarly promotes [(3)H]-muscimol binding. The mechanism(s) underlying these effects are poorly understood.

Diagnostic agreement of schizophrenia spectrum disorders among chronic patients with functional psychoses.

Background: To investigate whether diagnostic agreement across different diagnostic systems improves in a sample of chronic patients suffering from functional psychosis compared to first-admitted patients.

Sampling And Methods: Among 353 patients with a history of functional psychosis, a subset of 100 individuals (35 women and 65 men) were randomly sampled and assessed using the Operational Criteria Checklist for Psychotic Illness and Affective Illness (OPCRIT). Based on the OPCRIT diagnoses the subjects suffering from schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders according to seven diagnostic systems were identified.

A closed-tube assay for genotyping of the 32-bp deletion polymorphism in the chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) gene: dissociation analysis of amplified fragments of DNA.

We have developed a closed-tube assay for determination of the chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) 32-bp deletion allele, which protects against infections with HIV and modulates susceptibility to a variety of inflammatory diseases. This assay utilizes dissociation analysis of amplified products in the presence of Sybr Green I for allele discrimination. After having established robust conditions for the assay, we used it to genotype 590 unknown DNA samples.

Effects of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor agonist CP55,940 and antagonist SR141716A on d-amphetamine-induced behaviours in Cebus monkeys.

Several clinical studies have shown that alterations in the cannabinoid system in the brain may be associated with schizophrenia. Although evidence points towards an antipsychotic potential for cannabinoid antagonists, experimental studies have shown inconsistent behavioural effects of cannabinoid ligands within and across species. The aim of the present study was to explore these contradictory findings in a non-human primate model, predictive of antipsychotic efficacy in humans.

Association between the CCR5 32-bp deletion allele and late onset of schizophrenia.

Objective: The 32-bp deletion allele in chemokine receptor CCR5 has been associated with several immune-mediated diseases and might be implicated in schizophrenia as well.

Method: The authors genotyped DNA samples from 268 schizophrenia patients and 323 healthy subjects. Age at first admission to a psychiatric hospital department served as a measure of disease onset.

Identification and characterization of a tandem repeat in exon III of the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene in cetaceans.

A large number of mammalian species harbor a tandem repeat in exon III of the gene encoding dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4), a receptor associated with cognitive functions. In this study, a DRD4 gene exon III tandem repeat from the order Cetacea was identified and characterized. Included in our study were samples from 10 white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris), 10 harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), eight sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), and five minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata).