Effect of l-theanine on glutamatergic function in patients with schizophrenia

ObjectivesGlutamatergic dysfunction in the brain has been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Previous studies suggested that l-theanine affects the glutamatergic neurotransmission and ameliorates symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. The aims of the present study were twofold: to examine the possible effects of l-theanine on symptoms in chronic schizophrenia patients and to evaluate the changes in chemical mediators, including glutamate + glutamine (Glx), in the brain by using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).MethodThe subjects were 17 patients with schizophrenia and 22 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. l-Theanine (250 mg/day) was added to the patients’ ongoing antipsychotic treatment for 8 weeks. The outcome measures were the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores and MRS results.ResultsThere were significant improvements in the PANSS positive scale and sleep quality after the l-theanine treatment. As for MRS, we found no significant differences in Glx levels before and after the 8 week l-theanine treatment. However, significant correlations were observed between baseline density of Glx and change in Glx density by l-theanine.ConclusionsOur results suggest that l-theanine is effective in ameliorating positive symptoms and sleep quality in schizophrenia. The MRS findings suggest that l-theanine stabilises the glutamatergic concentration in the brain, which is a possible mechanism underlying the therapeutic effect.

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Evaluation of quality of sleep in women with stress urinary incontinence before and after surgical correction

Einstein (São Paulo) ◽

10.1590/s1679-45082018ao4205 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Josyandra Paula de Freitas ◽

Mariana Pereira Inácio Silvestri ◽

César Eduardo Fernandes ◽

Emerson de Oliveira

Keyword(s):

Urinary Incontinence ◽

Stress Urinary Incontinence ◽

Sleep Quality ◽

Sleep Disorder ◽

Epworth Sleepiness Scale ◽

Quality Index ◽

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index ◽

Quality Of Sleep ◽

Before And After

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the quality of sleep in women with urinary incontinence before and after sling surgery. Methods: A prospective study of case series of women with urodynamic diagnosis of stress urinary incontinence. To evaluate the subjective quality of sleep, two specific questionnaires were used and validated for the Portuguese Language: Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The questionnaires were applied before and 6 months after surgical repair. Results: When analyzing the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, there was an improvement in sleep quality (p=0.0401). For the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, only for sleep disorder there was improvement in quality of sleep after surgery (p=0.0127). Conclusion: Women with urinary incontinence, submitted to surgery with sling, showed improvement in both quality of sleep and sleep disorder.

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P.3.b.006 A proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of the brain metabolite changes after antipsychotic treatment

European Neuropsychopharmacology ◽

10.1016/s0924-977x(08)70579-0 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 18 ◽

pp. S400-S401

Author(s):

A. Szulc ◽

B. Galinska ◽

E. Tarasow ◽

W. Dzienis ◽

B. Kubas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ◽

Proton Magnetic Resonance ◽

Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ◽

Antipsychotic Treatment ◽

Resonance Spectroscopy ◽

Spectroscopy Study ◽

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study ◽

Brain Metabolite ◽

The Brain

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Normalizing the Abnormal: Do Antipsychotic Drugs Push the Cortex Into an Unsustainable Metabolic Envelope?

Schizophrenia Bulletin ◽

10.1093/schbul/sbz119 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 46 (3) ◽

pp. 484-495 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Federico E Turkheimer ◽

Pierluigi Selvaggi ◽

Mitul A Mehta ◽

Mattia Veronese ◽

Fernando Zelaya ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychotic Symptoms ◽

Antipsychotic Treatment ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Extrapyramidal Syndrome ◽

Before And After ◽

Cardiac Disorders ◽

Positive Symptoms Of Psychosis ◽

The Brain ◽

Novel Model

Abstract The use of antipsychotic medication to manage psychosis, principally in those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, is well established. Antipsychotics are effective in normalizing positive symptoms of psychosis in the short term (delusions, hallucinations and disordered thought). Their long-term use is, however, associated with side effects, including several types of movement (extrapyramidal syndrome, dyskinesia, akathisia), metabolic and cardiac disorders. Furthermore, higher lifetime antipsychotic dose-years may be associated with poorer cognitive performance and blunted affect, although the mechanisms driving the latter associations are not well understood. In this article, we propose a novel model of the long-term effects of antipsychotic administration focusing on the changes in brain metabolic homeostasis induced by the medication. We propose here that the brain metabolic normalization, that occurs in parallel to the normalization of psychotic symptoms following antipsychotic treatment, may not ultimately be sustainable by the cerebral tissue of some patients; these patients may be characterized by already reduced oxidative metabolic capacity and this may push the brain into an unsustainable metabolic envelope resulting in tissue remodeling. To support this perspective, we will review the existing data on the brain metabolic trajectories of patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia as indexed using available neuroimaging tools before and after use of medication. We will also consider data from pre-clinical studies to provide mechanistic support for our model.

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Tolerability and treatment response in patients with recently diagnosed vs. chronic schizophrenia treated with paliperidone ER

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/s0924-9338(11)73206-0 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 26 (S2) ◽

pp. 1502-1502

Author(s):

A. Schreiner ◽

D. Hoeben ◽

C. Tessier ◽

M. Lahaye ◽

J. Turczynski ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Treatment Response ◽

Chronic Schizophrenia ◽

Psychotic Symptoms ◽

Chronic Patients ◽

Open Label ◽

Patient Functioning ◽

Syndrome Scale ◽

Negative Syndrome ◽

Mean Time ◽

Time Since Diagnosis

ObjectiveTo explore tolerability and treatment response in adult patients with recently diagnosed (<5 years) and chronic (>5 years) schizophrenia treated with flexible doses of paliperidone ER.MethodsInternational prospective open-label 6-month study. Endpoints were the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), patient functioning and treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs).ResultsOf 713 recently diagnosed patients, most were male (60.9%), mean age was 33.6 ± 11.2 years and mean time since diagnosis was 2.3 ± 1.7 years. Chronic patients (n = 1003) were predominantly male (59.2%) with a mean age of 43.8 ± 11.4 and mean time since diagnosis of 15.6 ± 9.2 years. 70.4% and 71.7% of patients completed the study, respectively. Mean mode doses of paliperidone ER were similar between recently diagnosed and chronic patients (7.0 ± 2.9 mg/day and 7.2 ± 2.9 mg/day). 63.1% of recently diagnosed and 60.8% of chronic patients switching due to lack of efficacy with their previous antipsychotic had a >20% improvement in PANSS total score at endpoint, and improvement with other switching reasons was consistently numerically higher in recently diagnosed patients. The rate of patients with mild or no functional impairment increased from 17.7% to 39.8% in recently diagnosed and from 14.4% to 32.9% in chronic patients. TEAEs reported in >5% were insomnia (10.7% and 8.1%), anxiety (8.6% and 6.0%) and somnolence (5.8% and 3.4%), respectively.ConclusionThese data suggest that both recently diagnosed and chronic patients previously unsuccessfully treated with other oral antipsychotics may benefit from paliperidone ER, with a tendency for recently diagnosed patients showing some higher treatment response in psychotic symptoms and patient functioning.

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Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor Serum Level and Severity Symptom of Bataknese Male Patients with Schizophrenia in North Sumatera, Indonesia

Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences ◽

10.3889/oamjms.2019.550 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (12) ◽

pp. 1957-1961

Author(s):

Deasy Hendriati ◽

Elemeida Effendy ◽

Mustafa Mahfud Amin ◽

Vita Camellia ◽

Muhammad Surya Husada

Keyword(s):

Serum Level ◽

Negative Correlation ◽

Symptom Severity ◽

Negative Symptoms ◽

Chronic Schizophrenia ◽

Serum Levels ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Syndrome Scale ◽

Male Patients ◽

Negative Syndrome

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that is multi-causative and multi-factor, generally affecting about 1% of the population. The elevation level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) offers several protections from other neurodegenerative processes that occur in schizophrenia since this deficit of neurotrophic factors can contribute to changes in brain structure and function that underlie the schizophrenia psychopathology.AIM: To analyse the correlation between BDNF serum levels and symptom severity by using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) instrument in Bataknese male patients with schizophreniaMETHODS: This study was a correlative analytical study with a cross-sectional approach using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) instrument to assess symptom severity with 60 subjects of Bataknese male patients with chronic schizophrenia. Moreover, this research was conducted at the Psychiatric Hospital of Prof. Dr M. Ildrem Medan, Indonesia. BDNF serum was analysed with the Quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique by via Quantikine ELISA Human CXCL8/IL-8 HS. Also, the data analysis was performed through Spearman's correlative bivariate analytics using SPSS software.RESULTS: A negative correlation between the BDNF serum level and the negative scale PANSS score in men with schizophrenia (r = -0.820, p < 0.001) was found. Moreover, there is a negative correlation between BDNF serum levels and PANSS total scores in men with schizophrenia (r = -0.648, p < 0.001)CONCLUSION: BDNF serum level in Bataknese male patients with schizophrenia has a relationship that affects the severity of symptoms in schizophrenic patients, especially for negative symptoms.

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Sex-dependent effect on the association of COMT Val158Met polymorphism with schizophrenia clinical symptoms and cognitive impairment

10.21203/rs.3.rs-817886/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hang Xu ◽

Yongjie Zhou ◽

Jiesi Wang ◽

Meihong Xiu ◽

Dachun Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Chronic Schizophrenia ◽

Positive Symptoms ◽

Sexually Dimorphic ◽

Genotype Distribution ◽

Immediate Memory ◽

Neuropsychological Status ◽

Syndrome Scale ◽

Negative Syndrome

Abstract Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met (rs4680) polymorphism is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, which is related to the regulation of dopamine transmission in the prefrontal cortex. Recent studies have shown that the influence of COMT Val158Met variation is sexually dimorphic. This study aims to explore the possible effect of the interaction between COMT Val158Met polymorphism and sex on patients’ clinical characteristics and cognitive function. 367 inpatients with chronic schizophrenia (246 males and 121 females) and 419 healthy controls (172 males and 247 females) are recruited. The cognitive performances are assessed by Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS), and the COMT Val158Met polymorphism is genotyped. The psychopathological symptoms of the patients are assessed by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). We find that: 1) sex difference in the allele frequency and genotype distribution of COMT Val158Met are found only in schizophrenia patients; 2) there is sex × COMT genotype interaction in positive symptoms, immediate memory, attention, and RBANS total score indexes in patients with schizophrenia; 3) mainly in the male patients’ sample, Val/Val carriers exhibit more positive symptoms and more severe cognitive impairment than Met carriers. These findings suggest that COMT Val158Met polymorphism is associated with the risk and severity of schizophrenia in a sexually dimorphic way, which is helpful to understand the factors that may lead to different manifestations of male and female patients with schizophrenia.

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Reduced Cell-Free Mitochondrial DNA Levels Were Induced by Antipsychotics Treatment in First-Episode Patients With Schizophrenia

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.652314 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Houxian Ouyang ◽

Minfang Huang ◽

Yongming Xu ◽

Qin Yao ◽

Xiangping Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Dna ◽

The Body ◽

First Episode ◽

Antipsychotic Treatment ◽

Clinical Progression ◽

Molecular Pattern ◽

Syndrome Scale ◽

Scale Scores ◽

Before And After ◽

Copy Number Changes

Cell-free mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA) is a damage-associated molecular pattern that boosts the release of cytokines and induces the immune response of the body; therefore, it is closely related to mental diseases. This study aims to evaluate a potential link between cf-mtDNA and clinical progression in first-episode patients with schizophrenia. In this study, plasma cf-mtDNA levels in 34 first-episode patients with schizophrenia before and after 8 weeks of antipsychotic treatment were examined. In addition, the clinical progression of first-episode schizophrenia was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The copy number changes in the plasma cf-mtDNA (Δcf-mtDNA) were significantly correlated with changes in the PANSS scale scores (ΔPANSS) in first-episode patients with schizophrenia (ΔPANSS total score, P = 0.002; ΔPANSS positive score, P = 0.01). Plasma cf-mtDNA may represent a relevant tool in the future to assist in the assessment of clinical progression in first-episode patients with schizophrenia.

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Analysis of Mental State of Patients after Drug Addiction and Withdrawal Guided by PETCT Image Based on Optimized Image Fusion Algorithm

Scientific Programming ◽

10.1155/2021/5943410 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Yaowen Pang ◽

Xiang Peng

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Visual Stimulation ◽

Brain Temperature ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Normal Group ◽

Resonance Spectroscopy ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Before And After ◽

The Brain

Blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI) studies have shown that drug-dependent patients are activated in different addictive brain areas under the stimulation of relevant environmental cues, which in turn leads to craving and relapse. This study uses magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure brain temperature to explore the brain temperature changes in different addictive brain regions of heroin and methamphetamine addicts in a short-term withdrawal state and to explore whether the quantitative index of brain temperature change can be used as a diagnostic drug Methods. The subjects were scanned by resting-state MRI spectroscopy first and then subjected to MRI spectroscopy scanning under visual stimulation. The subjects were required to watch the heroin/meth-related clue pictures carefully during visual stimulation. The measured chemical shift value of N-acetyl-aspartic acid (NAA) is substituted into the brain temperature calculation formula T = 37 + 100 to obtain the brain temperature before and after visual stimulation. In addition, the anxiety and depression states of heroin and methamphetamine-dependent patients were evaluated. Results. There was no statistically significant change in the brain temperature of the prefrontal cortex before and after visual stimulation in heroin and methamphetamine-dependent subjects; compared with the normal group, there was no change in prefrontal cortex brain temperature before and after visual stimulation in heroin and methamphetamine-dependent subjects. Statistical Significance. The changes of hippocampal temperature before and after visual stimulation in methamphetamine-dependent patients were not statistically significant; compared with the normal group, there was no statistically significant difference in the changes of hippocampal temperature before and after visual stimulation in methamphetamine-dependent patients. Conclusion. This study initially found that the visual cues related to heroin and methamphetamine were not enough to cause significant changes in the brain temperature of the prefrontal cortex.

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Individual differences in schizophrenia

BJPsych Open ◽

10.1192/bjpo.bp.117.005058 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (6) ◽

pp. 265-273 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Edmund T. Rolls ◽

Wenlian Lu ◽

Lin Wan ◽

Hao Yan ◽

Chuanyue Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Antipsychotic Medication ◽

Negative Symptoms ◽

Unimodal Distribution ◽

Multiple Episode ◽

Syndrome Scale ◽

Before And After ◽

Motor Retardation ◽

Negative Syndrome

BackgroundWhether there are distinct subtypes of schizophrenia is an important issue to advance understanding and treatment of schizophrenia.AimsTo understand and treat individuals with schizophrenia, the aim was to advance understanding of differences between individuals, whether there are discrete subtypes, and how fist-episode patients (FEP) may differ from multiple episode patients (MEP).MethodThese issues were analysed in 687 FEP and 1880 MEP with schizophrenia using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for (PANSS) schizophrenia before and after antipsychotic medication for 6 weeks.ResultsThe seven Negative Symptoms were correlated with each other and with P2 (conceptual disorganisation), G13 (disturbance of volition), and G7 (motor retardation). The main difference between individuals was in the cluster of seven negative symptoms, which had a continuous unimodal distribution. Medication decreased the PANSS scores for all the symptoms, which were similar in the FEP and MEP groups.ConclusionsThe negative symptoms are a major source of individual differences, and there are potential implications for treatment.

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