The study aimed at searching for mechanisms of communicative impairments in patients with schizophrenia and their relatives. To evaluate a contribution of attention and memory to communication ...efficacy and to ability for understanding mental states of others, 100 patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective psychosis, 150 their healthy relatives and 145 controls have been studied. The results confirmed a presence of communicative deviations in the patients with schizophrenia and their relatives. In these groups, communication deficit was determined by disturbance of 1 out of 4 communication principles--the principle of information quantity. Attention and memory did not exert any significant influence on communication efficacy in the patients and their relatives. Distinct deterioration of fulfilling the tasks demanding mentalizing ability was found only in the patients. However, no correlation was revealed between this deterioration and communication peculiarities.
Current concepts on the role of genetic factors in the development of schizophrenia and on the relative risk for this disease and spectrum disorders are reviewed. An analysis of the results of ...genetic counseling of 120 subjects revealed that, comparing to other mental disorders, patients with schizophrenia or relatives, mostly those having a schizophrenic parent (40%) or spouse (25%), referred more frequently for a consultation. Most of the referrals (70%) had a high educational level. As it was found out during the counseling, up to 20% of the relatives met a diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, mostly personality disorder (9%) and depressive state (7%). Psychological testing with personality inventories revealed a high level of personality abnormalities (schizoid--22%, hyperthymic--16% and obsessive-anxiety--4%) in 43% close relatives of patients seeking medicogenetic advice. The genetic counseling featured by the use of the comprehensive approach, basing on all obtained data (psychiatric, psychological, neurophysiologic etc.), that increases its accuracy and may assist families in taking a reasonable decision in birth planning.
Psychological testing using Eysenck Personality Inventory and immunological testing of 75 patients with idiopathic mitral valve prolapse revealed low production of interferon-gamma by blood ...lymphocytes and a correlation between interferon-gamma production and patient's temperament. Low neuroticism and extroversion scores were found in patients with normal interferon-gamma production. High neuroticism score was detected in 82% patients with lowest interferon-gamma production, which refers these patients to a group at high immunological risk and prompts the use of interferon and/or its inductors in complex therapy of these patients.
Some studies associate the insertion/deletion polymorphism of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene with anxiety-related personality traits in mentally healthy people, the short (s) allele being ...associated with a higher neuroticism score. The 5-HTT genotype and neuroticism score were established for 114 affective patients, 87 healthy relatives of endogenous psychosis patients, and for 156 mentally healthy people without familial psychiatric history. The effects of sex and age on the association between the two parameters was studied. Neuroticism proved to be not associated with the 5-HTT genotype.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
A study was made of the association of the allele polymorphism of the 3′VNTR locus of the dopamine transporter (DAT) gene with schizophrenia, schizo-affective psychosis, and affective disorders. ...Three alleles (440, 480, and 520 nt) were found and the allele and genotype frequencies estimated in all groups. The allele and genotype frequencies in patients with depression significantly differed from those in controls and in patients with bipolar affective psychosis and schizophrenia. The results were correlated with the averaged MMPI profiles of controls and affective patients. In the latter group, 480/480 homozygotes significantly differed from patients with the other genotypes in the mean score on Hypochondria and Hysteria scales. The possible association of the DAT-3′VNTR polymorphism and individual syndromes, which are related to different mechanisms of psychological defense, is discussed.
Serotonin receptor (5HTR2A) gene polymorphism has been reported to be associated with clinical phenotypes in schizophrenia. The current study attempted to investigate a relationship between 5HTR2A ...102T/C polymorphism and personality traits as well as clinical symptoms in patients with ICD-10 diagnoses of schizophrenia and affective disorders. 5HTR2A genotyping, clinical and psychological assessment were administered to 375 patients, 104 first-degree healthy relatives of the patients and 157 controls. In the patients an association was observed between the 2/2 5HTR2A genotype and scores on the Hypochondriasis scale (MMPI) (ANOVA, F = 4.56;
P = 0.011) and trait anxiety (F = 4.21;
P = 0.002). A significant difference between 1/1 and 2/2 genotypes has been also found for Neuroticism scores (EPI) (t = 2.18;
P = 0.0031). No significant differences by 5HTR2A genotype were observed in either the control or first-degree relativesˈ group for all scales studied. Positive, negative and psychopathological symptoms emerged higher in the 2/2 genotype patients compared to other genotype carriers. Therefore, the 2/2 genotype may contribute to produce the phenotype, with specific clinical and pathological features in common, regardless of nosologic heterogeneity of psychoses.
