Schizophrenia
2010-2011 Psychiatric Pharmacy Review Course - ACPE Credit Only
The Psychiatric Pharmacy Review Course (Review Course) is an excellent course of study and resource for those seeking a review of psychopharmacology and current standards of care. Read more about this session.
Multiple genes in the 15q13-q14 chromosomal region are associated with schizophrenia
Objective: The chromosomal region, 15q13-q14, including the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene, CHRNA7, is a replicated region for schizophrenia. This study fine-mapped genes at 15q13-q14 to determine whether the association is unique to CHRNA7.
Methods: Family-based and case–control association studies were performed on Caucasian-non-Hispanic and African-American individuals from 120 families as well as 468 individual patients with schizophrenia and 144 well-characterized controls.
Association between polymorphisms of TAL1 gene and schizophrenia in a Korean population
No abstract available
Mutation screening of PDZD2, GOLPH3, and MTMR12 genes in patients with schizophrenia
No abstract available
All-Cause Mortality and Medication Risk Factors in Schizophrenia: A Prospective Cohort Study
Background: It is well established that persons with schizophrenia have high mortality rates. There is conflicting evidence that antipsychotic and perhaps other medications routinely used to treat schizophrenia contribute to mortality risk.
Methods: A health insurer database was used to examine schizophrenia diagnosis and mortality in 2008. Information from the period 2006–2008 was used to analyze demographics and medication prescriptions.
Asenapine Versus Olanzapine in People With Persistent Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Abstract: Two randomized, double-blind, 26-week core studies (Eastern [EH] and Western Hemisphere [WH]) tested the hypothesis that asenapine is superior to olanzapine for persistent negative symptoms of schizophrenia; 26-week extension studies assessed the comparative long-term efficacy and safety of these agents. In the core studies, 949 people were randomized to asenapine (n = 241 and 244) or olanzapine (n = 240 and 224); 26-week completion rates with asenapine were 64.7% and 49.6% (olanzapine, 80.4% and 63.8%) in the EH and WH, respectively.
Tetrabenazine Augmentation in Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia: A 12-Week, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial
Abstract: Evidence linking schizophrenia to alterations in presynaptic dopamine (DA) grows, although treatments to date have largely focused on postsynaptic D2 receptor blockade. This study examined augmenting response in treatment-resistant schizophrenia through the addition of tetrabenazine (TBZ), a presynaptic vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT2) inhibitor. Participants included 41 outpatients (mean age, 43.5 years) with treatment-refractory schizophrenia, stabilized on their present antipsychotic treatment (clozapine, 73%) for more than 3 months.
Effects of Aripiprazole and the Taq1A Polymorphism in the Dopamine D2 Receptor Gene on the Clinical Response and Plasma Monoamine Metabolites Level During the Acute Phase of Schizophrenia
Abstract: The Taq1A polymorphism in the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene could be related to the response to antipsychotics. We examined the effects of the Taq1A polymorphism on the plasma monoamine metabolites during the treatment of schizophrenia with aripiprazole, a DRD2 partial agonist. Thirty Japanese patients with schizophrenia were treated with aripiprazole for 6 weeks. We measured plasma levels of homovanillic acid (pHVA) and 3-methoxy-4hydroxyphenylglycol (pMHPG) before and after treatment. The Taq1A polymorphism was genotyped with polymerase chain reaction.
A brief summary of the articles appearing in this issue of Biological Psychiatry
In order to develop more effective interventions and reduce the disability of schizophrenia, it is essential to have better measures of the prodromal phase of the disorder. Atkinson et al. (pages 98–104) examined the use of two neurophysiological markers of auditory deviance detection to sound durations in first-episode psychosis, ultra-high risk of schizophrenia, and healthy individuals. Results suggest auditory deviance detection is deficient early in the disease process and may provide a possible marker of the prodromal phase of schizophrenia.
Neural Bases of Emotional Experience Versus Perception in Schizophrenia
It used to be called cold versus hot cognition, two terms that referred to tasks that either intentionally used stimuli devoid of social or emotional content to reduce unexpected confounds (cold) versus tasks that intentionally addressed social and emotional processing (hot). Now following impressive advances in basic behavioral neuroscience, this latter area is sometimes called social cognitive and affective neuroscience (SCAN), or simply social cognition.