Alcohol dependence (AD) is a complex disorder with a poorly understood etiology. In this study, we investigated the relationship between genetic variation in the
gene, which encodes the enzyme ...responsible for serotonin synthesis in the brain, and both AD and personality traits, with attention to Cloninger's types of AD. The study included 373 healthy control subjects, 206 inpatients with type I AD, and 110 inpatients with type II AD. All subjects were genotyped for the functional polymorphism
in the
gene, and AD patients completed the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ). The AA genotype and the A allele of the
polymorphism were more frequent in both patient groups compared with the control group. In addition, a negative association was found between the number of A alleles and TPQ scores for harm avoidance in patients with type II, but not type I, AD. These results support the involvement of genetic variations of the serotonergic system in the pathogenesis of AD, especially type II AD. They also suggest that in a subset of patients, genetic variation of
could potentially influence the development of AD by affecting the personality trait of harm avoidance.
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by excessive and uncontrolled drinking that causes distress and has damaging consequences for men and women of all ages. It is one ...of the four most disabling diseases and it affects approximately 14.6 million persons in Europe.
Objective of this study is to investigate changes in platelet serotonin concentration after four weeks of alcohol abstinence in regards to the genotype of the serotonin transporter.
A total of 154 patients with AUD were included in the study. Platelet serotonin concentrations were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Genotype of serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism was determined by the polymerase chain reaction-based method.
We did not establish a statistically significant main effect of serotonin transporter polymorphism on platelet serotonin concentration after four weeks of abstinence.
Aforementioned finding is in line with previous research suggesting a complex relationship between serotonin transporter gene and platelet serotonin levels, and congruent with the well-established genotype interaction with numerous other factors, such as sex, ethnicity, education level, and stressful life events.
BACKGROUNDTo assess potential benefits of quetiapine for persistent sleep disturbances in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on stable combined SSRI and benzodiazepine therapy, who ...previously failed to respond to various benzodiazepine and non-benzodiazepine hypnotic adjuvant treatment as well as to first-generation antipsychotic add-on treatment. SUBJECTS AND METHODSFifty-two male PTSD outpatients on stable combination treatment with SSRI and benzodiazepines, with persistent sleep disturbances not responding to prescription of zolpidem, flurazepam, nitrazepam, promazine, and levopromazine, were assessed for sleep disturbances improvements after prescription of quetiapine in the evening. Each patient met both ICD-10 and DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. Psychiatric comorbidity and premorbidity were excluded using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Improvement on the CAPS recurrent distressing dream item, reduction in the amount of time needed to fall asleep, prolongation of sleep duration, and reduction in average number of arousals per night in the last 7 days before the assessment period were used as efficacy measures. RESULTSAll sleep-related parameters improved significantly at the end of a five-week follow-up: sleep duration increased by one hour (p<0.001), sleep latency decreased by 52.5 minutes (p<0.001), median number of arousals per night decreased from two to one (p<0.001), CAPS recurrent distressing dream item median decreased from five to four (p<0.001), and the number of patients dissatisfied with their sleep quality and quantity decreased from 45 to two (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONQuetiapine prescribed in the evening may be successful therapy for persistent sleep disturbances in patients with PTSD and generally good response to an SSRI and benzodiazepine combination, who previously failed to respond to some of the usual hypnotic medication or addition of first-generation antipsychotics: zolpidem, flurazepam, nitrazepam, promazine, and levopromazine.
Alcohol dependence (AD) is a complex disorder with a poorly understood etiology. In this study, we investigated the relationship between genetic variation in the TPH2 gene, which encodes the enzyme ...responsible for serotonin synthesis in the brain, and both AD and personality traits, with attention to Cloninger’s types of AD. The study included 373 healthy control subjects, 206 inpatients with type I AD, and 110 inpatients with type II AD. All subjects were genotyped for the functional polymorphism rs4290270 in the TPH2 gene, and AD patients completed the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ). The AA genotype and the A allele of the rs4290270 polymorphism were more frequent in both patient groups compared with the control group. In addition, a negative association was found between the number of A alleles and TPQ scores for harm avoidance in patients with type II, but not type I, AD. These results support the involvement of genetic variations of the serotonergic system in the pathogenesis of AD, especially type II AD. They also suggest that in a subset of patients, genetic variation of TPH2 could potentially influence the development of AD by affecting the personality trait of harm avoidance.
Alcohol addiction is a heterogeneous psychiatric disorder according to both phenotype and etiology. Difference in phenotype characteristics manifests in the manner the addiction arises, history of ...the alcoholic and history of drinking, comorbid disorders, and the phenomenon of abstinence difficulties. Concerning the etiology of alcoholism, the disease itself is considered to be a consequence of an interactive influence of the environment and genetic factors. Numerous researches conducted in the last decades discovered many aspects of the biochemical, cell and molecular bases of alcohol addiction, leading to a conclusion that alcoholism is, like many other addictions, a brain disease. By recognizing alcoholism as a disease which basically implies changes of the neurobiological mechanisms, as well as a clear genetic basis, it was supposed that the disease, having its basis solely in the symptomatology, is essentially heterogeneous. By trying to solve the problem of a clinically heterogeneous nature of the disease during the last fifty years, various sub-classifications of such patients have been suggested. According to Cloninger, subtypes of alcoholism differ also according to changes in the brain neurotransmission systems, i.e. it is supposed that patients suffering from alcoholism type 1 have a more pronounced dopaminergic transmission deficit, while dopaminergic transmission is not disturbed significantly in patients diagnosed with alcoholism type 2, who, however, have a significant lack of serotonergic transmission. In such a way, Cloninger actually presented the basis of the so-called neurobiological alcoholism model. Since he has connected differences in neurotransmission with differences in personality characteristics, this model is also known as the psychobiological model of alcoholism. The characteristic of alcoholism type 1 is avoiding damage (Harm Avoidance, HA) decreased dopamine transmission and increased serotonin transmission, while the significant characteristic of alcoholism type 2 is seeking for excitement (Novelty Seeking, NS), unchanged dopamine transmission and decreased serotonin transmission. These neurochemical differences among alcoholism subtypes represent the basis for a different therapy approach. Intake of alcohol changes different gene expression in the human brain. The inheritance model of alcoholism is not fully explained, however, it is considered that the disease is connected to a larger gene number included in neurotransmission, cell mechanisms and general metabolic function, with a simultaneous influence of the environment. The contribution of genetic factors is stronger in certain types of alcoholism and thus we have been confronted in the last years of alcoholism research with studies researching the connections of some alcoholism subtypes with the polymorphism phenomenon in the genes coding the synaptic proteins included in the alcoholism etiology. The primary role of monoamine oxidase (MAO) in the brain is catalysis of deamination of the oxidative neurotransmitter amines, i.e. serotonin, adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine. Thus, this enzyme is the key factor for maintaining cytoplasmic concentration of various neurotransmitters and for regulation of the neurotransmitting synaptic activity. Taken this MAO function into consideration, MAO is the enzyme included in the etiology and pathogenesis of various neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders. The finding of the decreased platelet MAO activity in various psychiatric disorders has brought us to the assumption that this enzyme may be a constitutional/genetic indicator (trait marker) or an indicator of disease condition (state marker) in biologic psychiatry. There are only a few studies of alcohol addiction researching the connections of the MAO coding gene polymorphism and alcoholism; however, these studies are primarily related to the variable number of tandem repeats (VTNR) polymorphism in the regulatory gene region for MAO-A, considered to influence the transcription activity/functionality of the enzyme.
Depression and Suicide in Regards to Sex Matošić, Ana; Pašić, Hanna; Silić, Ante ...
Archives of psychiatry research,
02/2023, Letnik:
59, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Psychiatric disorders represent one of the leading problems of the public health community in the modern world today, especially because their incidence is steadily increasing and they are one of the ...main reasons for the overall disease burden in Europe. One of the most frequently diagnosed, yet under recognized diseases, is depression. Depression, whether a symptom, part of a syndrome or an independent diagnosis, is characterized by feelings of sadness, loss of interest and pleasure in activities that normally bring joy to a person, and can affect how a person feels, thinks and behaves. It affects all age and social groups, as well as both sexes, it is often comorbid with other physical diseases, and increases the risk of developing other physical diseases. There are certain differences between the sexes in the prevalence, the way a certain sex group deals with problems caused by depression, and the possible causes of these differences, which we present in more detail in this paper. Differences are observed in all cultures, environments and across different age groups. Patients suffering from depression have a particularly high risk of committing suicide. Suicide is a psychopathological phenomenon of multifactorial aetiology that is most often associated with psychiatry and mental disorders and is not a diagnosis in itself, but a complication of many psychiatric disorders. here are many differences in the rate of suicide by age and sex, as well as in the method of suicide, which we also present in more detail in this paper.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
In March 2020, three months after the first cases surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan, WHO declared a global pandemic of the novel coronavirus, which by than had already spread through a great ...number of countries all over the world. In order to protect the health of healthcare workers and patients, activities and measures of disease prevention have been taken; in such circumstances, psychiatry found itself faced with various challenges, one of them being the preservation of the continuity of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in patients with severe or refractory psychiatric disorders. Such patients are a priority and demand immediate treatment in hospital settings adapted to epidemiological circumstances. Having studied the instructions and recommendations of the competent authorities, as well as reviewing available literature, this paper presents the most important measures for the smooth performance of ECT in conditions associated with the COVID-19 disease.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
U ožujku 2020., tri mjeseca nakon prvih zabilježenih slučajeva u kineskom gradu Wuhan, WHO je proglasio globalnu pandemiju novootkrivenog koronavirusa koji je do tada već zahvatio veliki broj država ...širom svijeta. U svrhu zaštite zdravlja zdravstvenih radnika i pacijenata, poduzete su aktivnosti i mjere za sprječavanje širenja bolesti COVID-19 u zdravstvenom sustavu, pri čemu se u psihijatriji kao jedan od izazova nametnulo osiguravanje kontinuiteta elektrokonvulzivne terapije (EKT-a) kod osoba s teškim i rezistentnim psihijatrijskim poremećajima. Takvi pacijenti su prioritetni i zahtijevaju neodgodivo liječenje u bolničkim uvjetima prilagođenim epidemiološkim okolnostima. Proučivši upute i preporuke nadležnih tijela te pregledom dostupne literature, u ovom radu se predstavljaju najvažnije mjere za neometano izvođenje EKT-a u uvjetima povezanima s bolesti COVID-19.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The brain is no longer considered an immunoprivileged organ which is completely separated from the circulating immune cells by the blood-brain barrier and which shows a lowered or changed ...immunoreactivity. It has become clear that there are numerous interactions between the neurological, immune and neuroendocrinologic systems. The psychiatric disorder which is supposed to be connected to changes in the functioning of the immune system is depression. One of the hypotheses suggesting the pathophysiology of depression is the cytokine hypothesis of depression. According to it, the behavior changes in depressed patients are a consequence of changes in cytokines. Physiological and psychological effects of the immune activation during an infection, primarily mediated by central activity of peripherally excreted proinflammatory cytokines, are called "sickness behavior". Depression is connected with the activation of the inflammatory response system. When it comes to the immune characteristics of depressive disorders, it should be stressed that depression is a heterogeneous disorder, so different types of depression can differ not only psychopathologically but also at the immune level. Depression is characterized by disorders in noradrenergic and serotonergic neurotransmission. Proinflammatory cytokines are included in the noradrenergic and serotonergic neurotransmission in the brain areas that are thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of depression. According to this model, depression can be considered a psychoneuroimmune disease in which the peripheral immune activation is responsible (by excreting the inflammatory mediator) for various behavioral, neuroendocrinologic and neurochemical changes connected to the psychiatric condition.
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