Glia dysfunction in schizophrenia: evidence of possible therapeutic effects of nervonic acid in a preclinical model.

Rationale: Neuroinflammation may inhibit oligodendrocyte and astrocyte differentiation, which causes demyelination and synaptic degeneration. The myelin component nervonic acid (NA) may improve demyelinating and neurodegenerative diseases.

Objectives: This study firstly explored relationships between glial cell dysfunction and demyelination or synaptic degeneration in schizophrenia patients, and secondly determined nervonic acid therapeutic effects in a preclinical schizophrenia model of mice.

Correlation between cognitive impairment and metabolic imbalance of gut microbiota in patients with schizophrenia.

Background: The gut microbiome interacts with the central nervous system through the gut-brain axis, and this interaction involves neuronal, endocrine, and immune mechanisms, among others, which allow the microbiota to influence and respond to a variety of behavioral and mental conditions.

Aim: To explore the correlation between cognitive impairment and gut microbiota imbalance in patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: A total of 498 untreated patients with schizophrenia admitted to our hospital from July 2020 to July 2022 were selected as the case group, while 498 healthy volunteers who underwent physical examinations at our hospital during the same period were selected as a control group.

Research progress on the correlation between transforming growth factor- level and symptoms of depression.

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β is a group of cytokines with anti-inflammatory effects in the TGF family, which participates in the development of stress and depression-related mechanisms, and plays roles in the regulation of inflammatory response in depression and the recovery of various cytokine imbalances. The core symptoms of depression is associated with TGF-β level, and the psychological symptoms of depression are related to - gene polymorphism. Various antidepressants may up-regulate TGF-β level through the complex interaction between neurotransmitters and inflammatory factors, inhibiting inflammatory response and regulating cytokine imbalance to improve depressive symptoms.

Protocatechuic acid reverses myocardial infarction mediated by β-adrenergic agonist via regulation of Nrf2/HO-1 pathway, inflammatory, apoptotic, and fibrotic events.

Myocardial infarction (MI) is an instant ischemic death of cardiomyocytes that remains a major global cause of mortalities. MI is accompanied by oxidative, inflammatory, apoptotic, and fibrotic insults. Protocatechuic acid (PCA) is a polyphenolic compound with various potent biological activities.

Anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic in prisoners who had high risks to suffer from mood disorders: A longitudinal study before and during the COVID-19.

We compared the anxiety levels in prisoners before and after the COVID-19 outbreak and analyzed the causes of the changes in anxiety. The first survey was conducted in October 2019 (T0), and the second was conducted in March 2020 (T1). Generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Insomnia Severity Index scales were selected to assess the quality of emotion and sleep among prisoners (N = 803).

Clinical characteristics of familial schizophrenia.

Introduction: A family history of psychiatric disorders is one of the strongest risk factors for schizophrenia. The characteristics of patients with a family history of psychiatric disorders have not been systematically evaluated.

Methods: This multicenter study (26 centers, 2425 cases) was performed in a Chinese population to examine the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of schizophrenia patients with a family history of psychotic disorders in comparison with those of patients with sporadic schizophrenia.

[Effects of 22q11 deficit syndrome on mental symptoms and cognitive function in children and adolescents with schizophrenia].

Objective: To investigate the expression of 22 q11 deletion syndrome in children and adolescents with schizophrenia and its effect on mental symptoms and cognitive function.

Methods: Case-control method was used. 134 cases of children and adolescents diagnosed with schizophrenia in hospital from April 2016 to December 2018 were selected as the case group, and the patients in the case group were divided into the two groups including 22 q11 deletion group and the non-deletion group.

Upregulation of heme oxygenase-1 protected against brain damage induced by transient cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.

The aim of the present study was to identify the effect of heme oxygenase (HO)-1 gene on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into four groups: Sham group, vehicle group, empty adenovirus vector (Ad) group and recombinant HO-1 adenovirus (Ad-HO-1) transfection group. Rats in the vehicle, Ad and Ad-HO-1 groups were respectively injected with saline, Ad or Ad-HO-1 for 3 days prior to cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Expression of protein kinase A and the kappa opioid receptor in selected brain regions and conditioned place aversion in morphine-dependent rats.

This study examined adaptive changes in protein kinase A (PKA) and kappa opioid receptor (KOR) in selected addiction-related brain regions before and after conditioned place aversion (CPA). Seventy-two male SD rats were randomly assigned to an experimental group (morphine + naloxone, "MN") and 2 control groups: MS (morphine + saline) and SN (saline + naloxone). MN rats were intraperitoneally injected with morphine twice per day for 6.

[Analysis of early response to the antipsychotic treatment and related factors in acute schizophrenia patients].

The objective was to assess the relationship between early response and later response to antipsychotics, and the relationship between antipsychotics and early response. Data were retrospectively analyzed from patients with schizophrenia and they were hospitalized in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical College from May, 2013 to September, 2015.The patients were divided into theearly response group (PANSS total score improvement ≥20% at week 2) and early nonresponse group.

Association and gene-gene interactions study of reelin signaling pathway related genes with autism in the Han Chinese population.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder with unclear etiology. Reelin had been proposed to participate in the etiology of autism due to its important role in brain development. The goal of this study was to explore the association and gene-gene interactions of reelin signaling pathway related genes (RELN, VLDLR, LRP8, DAB1, FYN, and CDK5) with autism in Han Chinese population.

[Short-term curative effect of electroacupuncture as an adjunctive treatment on schizophrenia].

Objective: To compare the short-term curative effect of clozapine (CZ) and its combination with electroacupuncture (EA) in treating schizophrenia.

Methods: Ninety schizophrenia patients were randomly divided into two groups equally: the EA group treated with combination of CZ (200 - 300 mg/d in mean) and EA, and the CZ group treated with CZ alone. The effects of treatment were evaluated with PANSS, CGI and TESS before and at the 2th, 4th, 6th and 8th weekend of the treatment.