摘要:

The relations between urinary 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol, (MHPG) excretion, ward behavior in two environments (dayroom and gym), and symptomatology were examined in 58 psychiatric inpatients. In the total patient sample, idiosyncratic behaviors and body activity correlated positively with MHPG levels. Among depressed patients MHPG correlated negatively with eating lunch in the dayroom and positively with self-reported appetite loss, suggesting that appetite disturbance in major depression may be due to high norepinephrine turnover. The results support the utility of naturalistic observation instruments in exploring the relations between psychopathology and biological substrates.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118242

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1986

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Plasma levels of free and conjugated 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethyleneglycol (DOPEG), the main deaminated metabolite of norepinephrine, were assayed in 48 depressed patients before initiating a treatment with either maprotiline, an inhibitor of norepinephrine reuptake, or indalpine, a specific inhibitor of serotonin reuptake. The two groups of depressed patients were comparable. The therapeutic effect was evaluated by using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. No difference in pretreatment plasma free and conjugated DOPEG levels was found between the respond-ers and the nonresponders to maprotiline or indalpine. Neither was there any difference in the pretreatment levels of plasma free DOPEG between the two groups of responders and the two groups of nonresponders to either drug. Finally, there was no difference in the therapeutic response to maprotiline or to indalpine between the patients with high and low plasma DOPEG levels before treatment. These results indicate that there is no relationship between the initial plasma levels of DOPEG in depressed patients and their therapeutic response to a norepinephrine or a serotonin reuptake blocker.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118243

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1986

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Escape from dexamethasone-induced suppression of plasma cortisol is an abnormality found in about half of patients with major depression. It has been hypothesized that this hyperactivity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis might be related to a central noradrenergic hypofunction. The present study was designed to test this hypothesis by measuring plasma 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethyleneglycol (DOPEG) levels (free and conjugated forms), an index of central noradrenergic activity, and by simultaneously carrying out a dexamethasone suppression test. Forty-five patients with a diagnosis of major depression (according to the DSM-III) were investigated. Plasma DOPEG levels (measured at 8 a.m.) were found to be similar in dexamethasone suppressor and nonsuppressor depressed patients. These results do not support the hypothesis that central noradrenergic hypoactivity underlies nonsuppression of dexamethasone in major depression.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118244

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1986

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

In a double-blind controlled cross-over trial on 20 healthy volunteers, the acute effects of single doses of amitriptyline (75 mg), zimelidine (100 mg), maprotiline (75 mg), and placebo were tested on saliva composition. From the current knowledge of the physiological regulation of the salivary glands and the different specificities of the three drugs, different responses from the salivary glands could be expected. As all three drugs have anticholinergic effects that influence the saliva secretion, the concentrations of secreted saliva components had to be recalculated with regard to changes in secretion rate. No changes in saliva composition were recorded after the intake of placebo. The most pronounced changes were observed after amitriptyline intake. Amitriptyline caused increases in the concentrations of proteins, glycoproteins, calcium and potassium. Zimelidine initially decreased the concentrations of glycoproteins and increased the concentration of calcium. Maprotiline increased the concentrations of proteins and sodium. Most of the results fit in well with the theories about facilitated serotoninergic and adrenergic transmission during treatment with antidepressants.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118245

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1986

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

In a study involving 40 healthy student volunteers, 10 subjects were given lysine vasopressin at a dose of 0.4 ml (23 IU) per day in 3 divided doses for 15 days by the nasal route. Ten subjects were given desmopressin at a dose of 0.2 ml (20 µg) per day in a single dose for 15 days by the nasal route. Twenty subjects were given placebo by the nasal route. Memory tests were conducted under the same conditions before and after treatment (verbal span, verbal retention, visual retention, visual learning, verbal learning). Only the contents of the tests were varied, so as to avoid familiarity. Statistical analysis did not show any significant change in the scores between the first and the second series of tests, between the two treated groups, or between them studied separately and the control subjects

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118246

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1986

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

It has been suggested that the effects of intensive environmental stressors and of psychostimulant drugs may be interchangeable. A specific test of this hypothesis was undertaken in a double-blind, placebo controlled, cross-over study of the stimulant drug, methylphenidate (MPH), and of intense exercise, alone and in combination. On measures of motor performance the effects of MPH and of exercise were additive while on measures of neuroendocrine response the individual and interactive effects were variable. The effects of MPH and of intense exercise are probably mediated by mechanisms that overlap to a degree but are by no means identical.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118247

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1986

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Anorexia nervosa patients were found to (1) perform as well or better than control subjects on cognitive tasks that both require considerable cognitive effort and ‘direct’ the subject to the information that will be tested, but (2) do more poorly than controls on tests that assess automatic or incidental processing of information. The implications of this particular pattern of cognitive alterations for theories concerning the etiology of anorexia nervosa are discus

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118248

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1986

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Previous studies have shown that slight modification of the barbitone molecule can lead to enhanced sedative activity, convulsant activity or putative antidepressant activity according to the position of the isopropyl substituent on the N- or O-moiety. When the acute effects of the N-, O2- and O4-isopropyl derivatives of barbital (NIB, O2IB), O4IB on the concentrations of brain biogenic amines were determined, it was found that NIB and O4IB increased the serotonin concentrations in several brain regions examined without markedly changing the 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) concentrations; in contrast, O2IB increased the 5-HIAA concentration. Barbitone and NIB raised the concentration of noradrenaline in two of the regions examined whereas the O2-substituted derivative had a smaller effect; the dopamine concentration was slightly raised by NIB and O2IB. Following their chronic (14 days) administration, only barbitone and O2IB raised the serotonin concentration; O2IB raised the concentration of 5-HIAA in some regions as did NIB, which suggests that these compounds may increase serotonin turnover. Barbitone and O2IB slightly increased the noradrenaline content of the brain stem while only O2IB decreased the dopamine content. These results suggest that the effects of acute and chronic administration of barbitone and its isopropyl derivatives are qualitatively different; their effects are less marked after chronic administration. The GABA concentration was only affected after chronic administration, when NIB was shown to increase and O2IB to decrease the concentration. Following their chronic administration, O2IB decreased while NIB increased the locomotor activity of rats in the ‘open field’ and ‘hole board’ apparatus. No obvious correlation could be found between the changes in brain amine concentrations and the effects of these compounds on exploratory be

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118249

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1986

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

The new electrophysiological model earlier described as stereo-EEG is extended now to allow recording from the freely moving rat by means of a telemetric device. Chronic implantation of 4 electrodes into the brain allows simultaneous transmission of field potentials from frontal cortex, hippocampus, striatum and reticular formation. Frequency analysis of these potentials results in a drug-specific ‘fingerprint’ which cannot only be used to compare different chemicals with each other but also to detect onset and time dependence of drug actions. Application of the model to the question if fenetylline has its own intrinsic mode of action or merely develops its stimulatory effect after metabolic separation into its molecular moieties amphetamine and theophylline (prodrug hypothesis) revealed that fenetylline indeed displays its own stimulatory effect to the same extent and at a similar time course as amphetamine and theophylline. The ‘fingerprint’ as obtained by the analysis of the action of fenetylline in the rat resembles closely that obtained after the application of theophylline with respect to decreased alpha activity, but resembles amphetamine with respect to betai activity. Thus the applied method allows studying structure function relationships as the action of fenetylline seems to reflect both its molecular m

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000118250

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1986

数据来源: Karger