摘要:

The present study determined the kinetic properties of platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) in patients with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and control subjects during the pre- and postmenstrual intervals. In addition, we investigated the effects of plasma obtained during the pre- and postmenstrual intervals from both subject groups on MAO activity in washed human platelets and rat brain synaptosomes. The Vmax of platelet MAO in postmenstrual PMS patients was significantly less than that during the premenstrual phase. Plasma from both subject groups (10–100 µl) inhibited platelet and synaptosomal MAO in a dose-dependent manner to approximately the same degree at each time interval. The results indicate that although human plasma contains endogenous substances which inhibit MAO activity, alterations in their concentration are probably not responsible for the previously reported transient changes in platelet MAO activity in P

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118820

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1992

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Plasma free 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (pMHPG) was measured in 19 patients with acute schizophrenia before and after neuroleptic therapy. Plasma antinoradrenergic activity (pANA) of the neuroleptics used was measured after treatment. Before treatment, pMHPG was higher in the patients than in 20 normal controls. There was a positive correlation between pMHPG level and the global severity of positive symptoms. After neuroleptic therapy, pMHPG was reduced, and there was a significant correlation between the decline in pMHPG and the improvement in positive symptom score. The decline in pMHPG was also correlated with pANA. These results suggest that there is a dysfunction of the noradrenergic system in the brains of some acute schizophrenics with mainly positive symptoms, and that this dysfunction may be improved, along with positive symptom score, after neuroleptic therapy.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118821

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1992

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

ECT-induced cortisol release was distinctly seen, and fell along a course of ECT in each of 12 inpatient male melancholies (p = 0.00024, binomial), with dexamethasone given to diminish the elevated baseline cortisol levels typically seen in depression. Cortisol release dropped on average by 55% (p = 0.015), from 16.6 ± 6.8 µg/dl (p = 0.000002) with the first ECT to 8.0 ± 7.7 µg/dl (p = 0.000003) after 6 or more ECTs. The fall along the course was larger with unilateral ECT than bilateral ECT (p = 0.042), although significant regardless of electrode placement, suggesting that unilateral ECT tends to lose therapeutic impact along a course in comparison to bilateral

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118822

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1992

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

The residual effects of hypnotics were investigated with a long-acting (nitrazepam) and a short-acting (triazolam) benzodiazepine hypnotic in 8 male volunteers. Subjects received placebo, nitrazepam 5 mg, or triazolam 0.25 mg for 7 consecutive nights in a random-order, double-blind crossover design. Daytime sleepiness, psychomotor performance, EEG activity and standing steadiness were assessed in the morning after 1, 4, and 7 days of drug treatment. Plasma concentrations of nitrazepam and triazolam were also assayed. The concentration of nitrazepam increased gradually during the course of treatment and was associated with residual sedative effects on days 4 and 7. Nitrazepam produced no apparent psychomotor impairments in these studies. On the other hand, there was no evidence of drug accumulation after triazolam administration and triazolam showed no residual sedative effects or residual impairment of psychomotor performance during the experiment. Thus, short-acting hypnotics may have an advantage over long-acting hypnotics in terms of producing less residual sedative effects during chronic treatment.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118823

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1992

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

1,927 outpatients were included by 392 general practitioners in an open study in order to evaluate the safety of tianeptine in the ambulatory treatment of depression. The results of 1,858 depressed patients without melancholia and psychotic features, fulfilling DSM III criteria of Major Depressive Episode or Dysthymic Disorder, could be analysed. 1,458 patients completed the 3-month treatment period. The group treated with 37.5 mg/day of tianeptine showed improvement on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale. With regard to the clinical tolerance of tianeptine, somatic complaints were rarely reported and adverse events necessitating premature termination of treatment (4.8% of included patients) were without clinical severity. Cardiovascular, haematologic, hepatic and biochemical safety were verified. No signs of dependence and no specific withdrawal symptoms were found after discontinuation of treatment

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118824

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1992

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Effects of antiparkinsonian medication on the rabbit syndrome (RS) and accompanying parkinsonian symptoms were studied in 5 schizophrenic inpa-tients receiving long-term antipsychotic medication. All patients showed early improvement of RS following additional treatment with trihexyphenidyl or biperiden, with a significant reduction in the RS score also observed. The improvement of RS paralleled improvement of the parkinsonian symptoms, with the score of the Simpson-Angus rating scale significantly reduced. Our data provide further evidence that the underlying mechanism of RS is similar to that of acute forms of drug-induced parkinsonism.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118825

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1992

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

This paper provides an appraisal of the results published from the MRC Common Cold Unit on human performance efficiency during minor upper respiratory tract infection, i.e. colds and influenza. Despite strict controls employed in the methods of data collection, the robustness of the results and some of the conclusions drawn are questioned. In particular, the claim that colds and influenza lead to selective (and different) effects is criticised as being based on incomplete data. The lack of replication, the small sample sizes, possible response biases and use of controls are considered. Overall, it is argued that there are insufficient data to provide conclusive evidence for selective effects and that over-generalisation from such studies can be misleading.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118826

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1992

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Cognitive and psychomotor function, hormonal counterregulation and symptom awareness during severe insulin-induced hypoglycaemia were evaluated in 10 insulin-dependent diabetic patients. The glucose-clamp technique (Bio-stator®) was applied to achieve a stable hypoglycaemic (39 ± 2 mg/dl) plateau. A battery of 7 neuropsychological tests and a standardized questionnaire assessing hypoglycaemia symptoms were administered during euglycaemia and hypoglycaemia. There was a significant increase in counterregulatory hormone response (cortisol, growth hormone, p < 0.05). Every patient experienced symptoms during severe hypoglycaemia. Four patients, however, were not aware of this threatening metabolic state. There was a significant performance decrement in all but two neuropsychological tests (Aiming Center I, Aiming Center II, Line Tracing Errors, Reaction Time, p < 0.01; Digit Symbol, p < 0.05). Performance of simple motor tasks as well as cognitive tasks requiring complex discrimination deteriorated similarly. Furthermore, the patients’ general well-being (subjective condition) worsened considerably. In conclusion, a significant impairment of neuropsychological functions emerged during severe hypoglycaemia in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, even in the face of adequate hormonal counterregulation, and did not always coincide with an appropriate patient awareness of the actual metabolic st

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118827

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1992

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

To test different versions of the premature aging hypothesis in alcoholics, brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs), long-latency auditory evoked potentials (LAEPs), P3 and visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were recorded in 32 alcoholic subjects. The phenomena in patients’ event-related potentials (ERPs) differ from those observed in normal aging subjects and become more pronounced with age. ANOVA showed a significant effect by group (alcoholic patients/controls) on certain parameters of BAEPs (III, III-V, I-V), VEPs (P100 latency) and LAEPs (Nl-P2 amplitude and N2 latency) unaffected by age, while age had a significant effect on some parameters of LAEPs (N2-P3 amplitude, P3 latency) unaffected, or less affected by chronic alcohol consumption. At a clinical level, abnormalities in BAEPs and VEPs seem good early trouble indices in alcoholic patients, while alterations in latencies and amplitudes of LAEPs appear in older patients. These data seem to be in favor of a critical age or critical abuse in the action of alcohol, in place of the classical hypothesis of premature agin

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118828

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1992

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

In order to perform a nonlinear dimensional analysis of the sleep EEG, we applied an algorithm proposed to calculate the correlation dimension D2 of different sleep stages. D2 characterizes the dynamics of the sleep EEG, estimates the degrees of freedom, and describes the complexity of the signal under study. An attempt is made to correlate dimensionality analysis and informational aspects of the sleep EEG. Information processing by the brain during different sleep stages of healthy subjects under the influence of lorazepam and in unmedicated acute schizophrenics is estimated.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118829

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1992

数据来源: Karger