Intellectual mapping of studies on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): A machine learning study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Background: This study examines the relationship between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other medical conditions and their role in the development or treatment of this disorder OBJECTIVE A co-word analysis study examines the status and intellectual structure of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Furthermore, given the multiplicity of outputs obtained from this type of study, the results can be connected to various fields related to the disease, and other related diseases can be identified through visualization. Drawing the intellectual structure in emerging and declining fields, the level of development and maturity, thematic networks and determining the thematic relationship of OCD with other diseases, the role of genetic factors, the role of complementary medicine in the treatment of this disease, etc. are among some contributions of this research project METHODS Materials and Methods: The articles published from 1975 to 2021 were retrieved by searching the related keywords in multiple databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), and Embase according to their thematic coverage and scope. Finally, after removing repeated articles and standardization, a total of 1820 papers were analyzed using R and SciMAT software. RESULTS A total of 4191 keywords plus (ID) and 3242 author keywords (DE) were reported in the journals. Moreover, these articles were published by 7482 authors, of which 111 articles were written by single authors and the collaborative coefficient (CC) was 4.36. Neuropsychopharmacology International Clinical, Psychopharmacology, and Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology are the most influential journals publishing OCD articles. CONCLUSIONS Given the increasing prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCDs), finding the most effective methods with the lowest prescribed dose of the drug and the most therapeutic effect is extremely important. To this end, the present study indicated that the prognosis of inherited OCD disorders, as well as the response to treatment, can be examined by analyzing the genetic sequence and finding polymorphism cases. Furthermore, complementary medicine as one of the scientific schools plays an important role in OCD diagnosis and adjuvant treatment using food and herbs and other treatment methods.

Current Clinical Psychopharmacology in Borderline Personality Disorder

Background: Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) manifest affective and behavioural symptoms causing personal distress, relationship difficulties, and reduced quality of life with global functioning impairment, mainly when the disease takes an unfavourable course. A substantial amount of healthcare costs is dedicated to addressing these issues. Many BPD patients receive medications, mostly those who do not respond to psychological interventions. Objective: Our aim was to assess the efficacy of the most used strategies of pharmacological interventions in BPD with a comprehensive overview of the field. Methods: We searched the PubMed database for papers focused on the most used psychotropic drugs for BPD. We included randomized controlled trials and open studies in adult patients with BPD, focusing on the efficacy and tolerability of single classes of drugs with respect to specific clinical presentations that may occur during the course of BPD. Results: Specific second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) and/or serotonergic antidepressants can be effective for different core symptoms of BPD, mainly including mood symptoms, anxiety, and impulse dyscontrol. Some atypical antipsychotics can also be effective for psychotic and dissociative symptoms. Specific antiepileptics can be useful in some cases in treating specific BPD symptoms, mainly including mood instability, impulsiveness, and anger. Conclusions: No medication is currently approved for BPD, and clinicians should carefully assess the benefits and risks of drug treatment. Further studies are needed to identify specific personalized treatment strategies, also considering the clinical heterogeneity and possible comorbidities of BPD.

Repeated Dosing of Ketamine in the Forced Swim Test: Are Multiple Shots Better Than One?

The anesthetic drug ketamine has been successfully repurposed as an antidepressant in human subjects. This represents a breakthrough for clinical psychopharmacology, because unlike monoaminergic antidepressants, ketamine has rapid onset, including in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) that is resistant to conventional pharmacotherapy. This rapid therapeutic onset suggests a unique mechanism of action, which continues to be investigated in reverse translational studies in rodents. A large fraction of rodent and human studies of ketamine have focused on the effects of only a single administration of ketamine, which presents a problem because MDD is typically a persistent illness that may require ongoing treatment with this drug to prevent relapse. Here we review behavioral studies in rodents that used repeated dosing of ketamine in the forced swim test (FST), with an eye toward eventual mechanistic studies. A subset of these studies carried out additional experiments with only a single injection of ketamine for comparison, and several studies used chronic psychosocial stress, where stress is a known causative factor in some cases of MDD. We find that repeated ketamine can in some cases paradoxically produce increases in immobility in the FST, especially at high doses such as 50 or 100 mg/kg. Several studies however provide evidence that repeated dosing is more effective than a single dose at decreasing immobility, including behavioral effects that last longer. Collectively, this growing literature suggests that repeated dosing of ketamine has prominent depression-related effects in rodents, and further investigation may help optimize the use of this drug in humans experiencing MDD.