Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia is highly disabling and remains one of the major therapeutic challenges. Agomelatine (AGO), an agonist at melatonergic MT1/MT2 receptors and antagonist at 5-HT2C ...receptors, increases dopamine and norepinephrine in the prefrontal cortex and may therefore have the potential of improving neurocognition in patients with schizophrenia.
Twenty-seven patients with schizophrenia and comorbid depression were treated with AGO in addition to stable doses of antipsychotic drugs. Cognitive abilities were assessed with the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) at study entry and after 12 weeks of AGO treatment after the intention-to-treat principle.
We observed statistically significant yet clinically negligible increases of the MCCB composite score and the reasoning/problem solving subscore. Patients with unimpaired sleep at baseline showed greater improvements over time than those with sleep disturbances. Changes on the MCCB were not correlated with other psychometric variables.
Despite statistically significant, cognitive improvements after 12 weeks of AGO treatment were clinically irrelevant. Our findings may be limited by baseline properties of the study sample and the study design. In particular, lacking a control group, it cannot be ruled out that improvements were unrelated to AGO treatment. That is why randomized controlled trials are needed to validate the relevance of AGO as a cognitive enhancer in schizophrenia.
Depressive episodes in schizophrenia constitute a major clinical problem, and treatment success is often limited by treatment-emergent side effects. Agomelatine, an agonist at melatonergic MT1/MT2 ...receptors and 5-HT2C receptor antagonist, is a new antidepressant with a novel mode of action which constitutes a potential therapeutic option for depression in schizophrenia.
Twenty-seven patients with lifetime diagnoses within the schizophrenia spectrum and comorbid depression were treated with agomelatine in addition to stable doses of antipsychotic agents. Severity of depression and other psychopathological domains (positive/negative symptoms, general psychopathology, psychosocial performance) was assessed regularly by means of standardized rating scales during a 6-week acute treatment phase as well as after a 6-week extension phase. Moreover, safety measures (electrocardiograms, laboratory counts, neurological and non-neurological side effects, sleep quality, sexual functioning) were monitored on a regular basis.
Depressive symptoms improved significantly during the 6-week acute treatment phase. In parallel, a significant improvement of negative symptoms, global psychopathology, and psychosocial performance was observed, whereas positive symptoms remained stable. Agomelatine was mostly well tolerated with predominantly mild and self-limiting side effects. However, pharmacokinetic interactions with antipsychotic agents were observed. Interestingly, the quality of sleep did not improve significantly, pointing toward mechanisms that do not depend on resynchronization of circadian rhythms.
Agomelatine appears to be safe and efficacious in treating depressive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. The risk of pharmacokinetic interactions with antipsychotic agents warrants the need of therapeutic drug monitoring, and regular recording of vital signs seems necessary. Further randomized trials will have to confirm these findings.
By 2050 global demand for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is predicted to grow by 60%. To meet this demand, annual genetic gains must increase by 1.4%, and withstand increasing environmental stresses. ...The goal of the work herein was to use new phenomic, genomic and molecular tools to identify novel genomic regions associated with eyespot (Oculimacula yallundae and O. acuformis) disease resistance, drought tolerance and yield stability. To identify novel genomic regions associated with eyespot resistance in winter wheat, disease susceptibility was evaluated in two PNW winter wheat panels (n= 469, 399) and genome-wide association mapping was conducted. Of the 92 marker trait associations identified, the seven most significant cumulatively reduced eyespot disease response. As breeding lines were used, the results can be used for rapid introgression of resistance alleles into elite lines. The second objective of this work was to evaluate phenotypic associations of physiological traits and yield under rain-fed conditions to identify traits for use in breeding. 700 lines of the spring wheat nested association mapping panel were evaluated for water use efficiency, plant water status, photosynthetic and photoprotective mechanisms and grain yield over three years. Six traits had a cumulative effect on increasing yield: plant water status, plant height, photosynthetic capacity, vegetative green index, water used efficiency and days from sowing to heading. The physiological traits identified can be used to improve selection efficiency and yield stability under variable rain-fed conditions. The third objective of this work was to identify genomic regions associated with the water-use efficiency, plant water status, leaf health and photosynthesis. 650 lines of the spring wheat NAM panel were evaluated for these traits and grain yield under rain-fed conditions and joint inclusive composite interval mapping and genome-wide association analysis was conducted. The seven most significant grain yield QTL identified, located on chromosomes 1A, 1B, 2B, 4B, 5B, and 7B, were found in multiple environments and were associated with multiple physiological traits. This study helps reveal the genetic architecture of drought tolerance and grain yield and can be used to improve the efficiency of breeding under variable water-limited conditions.
High-dose dobutamine stress MRI is safe and feasible for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) in humans. However, the assessment of cine scans relies on the visual interpretation of ...regional wall motion, which is subjective. Recently, strain-encoded MRI (SENC) has been proposed for the direct color-coded visualization of myocardial strain. The purpose of our study was to compare the diagnostic value of SENC with that provided by conventional wall motion analysis for the detection of inducible ischemia during dobutamine stress MRI.
Stress-induced ischemia was assessed by wall motion analysis and by SENC in 101 patients with suspected or known CAD and in 17 healthy volunteers who underwent dobutamine stress MRI in a clinical 1.5-T scanner. Quantitative coronary angiography deemed as the standard reference for the presence or absence of significant CAD (> or =50% diameter stenosis). On a coronary vessel level, SENC detected inducible ischemia in 86 of 101 versus 71 of 101 diseased coronary vessels (P<0.01 versus cine) and showed normal strain response in 189 of 202 versus 194 of 202 vessels with <50% stenosis (P=NS versus cine). On a patient level, SENC detected inducible ischemia in 63 of 64 versus 55 of 64 patients with CAD (P<0.05 versus cine) and showed normal strain response in 32 of 37 versus 34 of 37 patients without CAD (P=NS versus cine). Quantification analysis demonstrated a significant correlation between strain rate reserve and coronary artery stenosis severity (r(2)=0.56, P<0.001), and a cutoff value of strain rate reserve of 1.64 was deemed as a highly accurate marker for the detection of > or =50% stenosis (area under the curve, 0.96; SE, 0.01; 95% CI, 0.94 to 0.98; P<0.001).
The direct color-coded visualization of strain on MR images is a useful adjunct for dobutamine stress MRI, which provides incremental value for the detection of CAD compared with conventional wall motion readings on cine images.
Registration of ‘Earl’ Hard White Winter Wheat Carter, A. H.; Kidwell, K. K.; Balow, K. A. ...
Journal of plant registrations,
September 2017, 2017-09-00, Letnik:
11, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
End‐use quality and yield potential are the most important traits for hard white winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars produced in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The ...objective for the development of ‘Earl’ (Reg. No. CV‐1127, PI 680639) was to provide a hard white winter cultivar that meets end‐use quality expectations and performs well agronomically. Earl was developed and released in September 2014 by the Agricultural Research Center of Washington State University. It was tested under the experimental designations LasWA8061‐75, and WA8184, which were assigned through progressive generations of advancement. Earl is a semidwarf cultivar adapted for the intermediate‐ to high‐rainfall (>400 mm of average annual precipitation), unirrigated wheat production regions of Washington. Earl has high‐temperature, adult‐plant resistance to stripe rust, above‐average grain protein concentration, and high grain volume weight with end‐use quality properties similar to those of hard red winter wheat cultivars ‘Bauermeister’, ‘Finley’, and ‘Whetstone’.
PDF
