COMT haplotypes, catecholamine metabolites in plasma and clinical response in schizophrenic and bipolar patients.

Aim: We examined the association of COMT haplotypes and plasma metabolites of catecholamines in relation to the clinical response to antipsychotics in schizophrenic and bipolar patients.

Patients & Methods: We studied 165 patients before and after four weeks of treatment, and 163 healthy controls. We assessed four COMT haplotypes and the plasma concentrations of HVA, DOPAC and MHPG.

Aripiprazole reverses paliperidone-induced hyperprolactinemia.

Hyperprolactinemia is a common side effect of antipsychotic treatments. Existing alternatives to resolve this problem include decreasing the antipsychotic dose or switching to a different antipsychotic agent. Nevertheless, said modifications can sometimes lead to decompensation of the patient.

Oral health and the symptoms of schizophrenia.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the oral health of a group of schizophrenic outpatients and a control group without psychiatric illness. The study also aimed to assess the influence of positive and negative symptomatology on oral health among outpatients with schizophrenia. The DMF-T Index (sum of decayed, missing and filled teeth) and the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN) were assessed in both groups.

Catechol O-methyltransferase and monoamine oxidase A genotypes, and plasma catecholamine metabolites in bipolar and schizophrenic patients.

Metabolites of dopamine and norepinephrine measured in the plasma have long been associated with symptomatic severity and response to treatment in schizophrenic, bipolar and other psychiatric patients. Plasma concentrations of catecholamine metabolites are genetically regulated. The genes encoding enzymes that are involved in the synthesis and degradation of these monoamines are candidate targets for this genetic regulation.

GABA and homovanillic acid in the plasma of Schizophrenic and bipolar I patients.

We have determined the plasma (p) concentration of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid (HVA), and the pHVA/pGABA ratio in schizophrenic and bipolar patients. The research was undertaken in a geographic area with an ethnically homogeneous population. The HVA plasma concentrations were significantly elevated in the schizophrenic patients compared to the bipolar patients.

[Mental health in contemporary women].

The increase in illnesses and behavior disorders which medical personnel have observed among contemporary women during clinical practice in the outpatient services for Primary Health and Mental Health Care, basically anxiety and depression related disorders, is the reason why the author has written this article. This fact leads us to reflect on what is occurring.

Plasma homovanillic acid and family history of psychotic disorders in bipolar I patients.

It has been suggested that the family history of psychotic disorders is useful in defining homogeneous groups of bipolar patients. The plasma homovanillic acid (pHVA) concentrations have been related to the effect of antipsychotic treatment in psychotic patients. We have studied the influence of a positive family history of psychotic disorders both on the variation of pHVA levels and on the relation between pHVA concentrations and the clinical response to treatment.

Biological correlates of the congruence and incongruence of psychotic symptoms in patients with type 1 bipolar disorder.

Unlabelled: We examined the catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) Val108/158Met genotype in 160 type 1 bipolar patients. We also analyzed the plasma concentrations of homovanillic acid (HVA), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethylenglycol (MHPG) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid in 60 of those patients who had been without mood stabilizers or neuroleptic treatment for at least 8 days.

Results: Patients with congruent psychotic symptoms presented a higher plasma concentration of HVA than mood incongruent psychotic patients.

Plasma homovanillic acid levels in schizophrenic patients: correlation with negative symptoms.

The relation between changes in the levels of plasma homovanillic acid (pHVA) and clinical evolution during neuroleptic treatment of schizophrenic patients has not been satisfactorily characterized, as a number of conflicting findings have been reported. Significant correlations have generally been found using the assessment of positive symptoms as an index of clinical outcome. Nevertheless, attempts to correlate pHVA concentrations with negative symptoms have yielded contradictory results.

Inter- and intra-individual variability in the levels of plasma homovanillic acid in schizophrenic patients.

Background: Changes in the levels of homovanillic acid in blood plasma (pHVA) may reflect changes which occur in the brain. In healthy individuals, this concentration of pHVA is stable over time.

Methods: Over the course of one month, we studied 98 acute schizophrenic patients who had not been taking any medication but were administered neuroleptics upon hospital admission, together with 23 chronic schizophrenic patients on long-term treatment from whom medication was withdrawn.

Influence of the catechol-O-methyltransferase Val108/158Met polymorphism on the plasma concentration of catecholamine metabolites and on clinical features in type I bipolar disorder--a preliminary report.

Background: The activity of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) may be related to psychosis susceptibility. The Val108/158Met polymorphism of the COMT gene influences its enzymatic activity and may result in altered concentrations of monoamine metabolites and different clinical responses of patients to pharmacological treatments.

Methods: We examined in a sample of 42 bipolar patients if the Val108/158Met polymorphism influences: (a) the presence of psychosis in type I bipolar patients; (b) the blood plasma concentration of homovanillic acid (HVA) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), which are metabolites of dopamine and noradrenaline respectively and (c) the severity of the clinical characteristics of these patients and their response to pharmacological treatment.

Quantitative determination of gene expression in human lymphocytes assessed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography.

Gene expression in human lymphocytes was assessed using reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction amplification followed by ion-pair reversed-phase chromatography analysis. Competitive PCR was used to quantitate the desired cDNAs with a polivalent competitor adaptable to multiple novel mRNAs estimations with minor changes. Accuracy was 11.

[Auditory hallucinations in bilingual subjects].

The relationship between bilingualism and psychopathology has received scant attention is psychiatric literature. We present four psychotic patients whose mother language which they usually spoke, was basque, whereas the psychopathological auditory phenomena took place in spanish.

[Schizophrenia and panic attacks].

The coexistence of schizophrenia and panic attacks has been reported several times in the literature on this topic. In this paper two new clinical cases of this association have been exposed. Also, diagnostic and therapeutic implications have been debated.