摘要:

Serum dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) levels were assessed in 150 depressed patients of both sexes, with a mean age of 44.0 ± 12.3 (SD) years. Patients were divided into unipolars (n = 46), bipolars (n = 25), neurotic-reactive (n = 46) and unspecified (n = 38) i.e., those who did not fit into any of the previous categories. According to their status 38 patients were psychotic and 104 clearly nonpsychotic at the time of the DBH assessment. Personality characteristics were assessed for the same patients when they had markedly improved from their depression. In line with previous findings bipolar patients were found to have slightly lower serum DBH values than unipolars, and psychotic patients slightly lower values than nonpsychotic. However, none of the differences among diagnostic groups or between psychotic and nonpsychotic patients was statistically significant. Weak negative correlations were found between serum DBH and the personality variables social desirability and indirect aggression, but an earlier finding of a positive correlation with the personality trait monotony avoidance, could not be confirmed. Owing to the large interindividual variations in serum DBH it is concluded that correlations between serum DBH and personality characteristics might be spurious and due to chance. This study does not support the assumption that significant differences in serum DBH might occur among subgroups of depressed patients

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000117963

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1983

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Animal experiments confirmed the neuropeptide nature of delta-sleep-inducing-peptide (DSIP) and a species-specific sleep promotion. Five different human studies were carried out with single and repeated intravenous injections of DSIP under double-blind conditions, and with assessing treatment effects by psychophysiological tests and polygraphic recordings. Compatibility of DSIP was good. Slow injection proved essential. A latency of sleep induction of 1 h, but a duration of up to 20 h was found. The somnogenic properties, initially proven in animal studies, were confirmed. Indications of specific effects on chronobiological regulations were found. A complete normalization of disturbed sleep was achieved by four consecutive injections to insomniacs. During the active awake state, DSIP induced higher alertness and better performance. Psychological tests and evaluation by psychotherapists indicated modulation of ego functions by DSIP in the direction of improved stress tolerance and coping ability. The various actions of DSIP might be conceptualized neurophysiologically on the level of ‘programming’ behavior by means of changing ‘local vigilances’. Whereas the somnogenic actions of DSIP appear promising for treating insomnia, other therapeutic perspectives in the field of psychiatry have to be e

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000117964

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1983

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Male C57BL/6J mice were given chronic ethanol treatment by two procedures. One was by a liquid diet containing 6.4% (v/v) ethanol; the other was by repeated injections of ethanol (3.5 g/kg, i.p. twice daily). After 5 days of the liquid diet treatment, sleep time following a challenge dose of ethanol (3.0 g/kg i.p.) was reduced to 10 min as compared with 30 min in the controls not previously exposed to ethanol. After 10 days, none of the ethanol-treated animals slept. Bilateral adrenalectomy (Adx) had no effect on sleep time (34 min). However, the reduction of sleep time in ethanol-treated Adx animals was much less: 19 min after 5 days, and 20 min after 10 days. Replacement with corticosterone in Adx animals restored the reduction of sleep time to the same levels as intact animals, indicating that glucocorticoids are the hormonal factor involved in the Adx effect. By the injection procedure for short-term administration of moderate doses of ethanol, sleep time following the injection of 3.5 g/kg ethanol was reduced from 95 min on day 1 to 57 min on day 3. There was no difference between intact and Adx animals. The results from both treatment procedures suggest that Adx abolished the later, severe stage of tolerance development but not the initial stage. Functional tolerance to ethanol occurring in this advanced stage may be a glucocorticoid-dependent process.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000117965

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1983

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Daily haloperidol injection at the dose of 5 mg/kg for 34 days did not change the levels of dopamine in the corpus striatum, frontal cortex, and midbrain of rats. However, the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) level was increased by 27% in the corpus striatum. Haloperidol withdrawal for 4 days after 30-day treatment increased GABA levels of the corpus striatum and the frontal cortex to 140 and 125%, respectively, of control values. GABA, by its inhibitory actions, depleted dopamine level in the corpus striatum and frontal cortex by 17 and 29 %, respectively. Administration of SL76OO2, a new GABA agonist, for 4 days at the dose of 400 mg/kg i.p. to haloperidol-withdrawn rats increased GABA levels in striatum by 23% of control values. The dopamine levels were also decreased significantly in the frontal cortex and corpus striatum. Our data demonstrate that SL76OO2, by altering the GABA levels, probably influences DA functioning in the corpus striatum, a region responsible for involuntary movements

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000117966

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1983

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

In addition to its incorporation into proteins, glycine functions as both a regulator of one-carbon metabolism and as an inhibitory neurotransmitter. Clinical recognition of the hyperglycinemias and reported elevations of erythrocyte glycine concentrations in patients with bipolar disorders have implicated this amino acid in the etiopathology of some neuropsychiatric disorders. Moreover, chronic lithium administration, an almost specific intervention for the treatment and prophylaxis of bipolar disorders, has been shown to induce elevations in brain and erythrocyte glycine levels. In view of glycine’s complex metabolic interrelationships and neurotransmitter function, additional research exploring its possible role in either affective illness or lithium’s action is indica

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000117967

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1983

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Baclofen therapy resulted in improvement of dyskinesias only in patients with trunkal tardive dyskinesia. However, the appearance of undesirable side effects did not warrant continuation of treatment with this drug. Baclofen did not have any therapeutic effect in schizophrenia and moreover a trend towards a worsening of the psychiatric conditions with irritability, assaultiveness and prominent auditory hallucinations was observed. The effects of baclofen on tardive dyskinesia and schizophrenia can be explained in terms of its phenylethylamine-like properties.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000117968

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1983

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

In this paper two experiments are reported which were designed to investigate the effects of smoking on the performance of a rapid information processing task. The task involves the detection of sequences of three consecutive digits of the same parity from a series of digits presented visually at the rate of 100/min. In the first experiment smoking improved both the speed and accuracy of performance above rested baseline levels, the greatest improvement occurring with the highest nicotine and tar delivery cigarette. In the second experiment smoking again improved the speed and accuracy of performance above baseline levels, while performance deteriorated over time after not smoking as well as after smoking a nicotine-free cigarette. These findings demonstrate that smoking produces absolute improvements in performance and are explained in terms of the action of nicotine on central cholinergic pathways.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000117969

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1983

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

The effects of midazolam 15 mg and alcohol 0.5 g/kg on short-term storage in the visual system (iconic memory) and free recall of a word list were investigated in 8 normal volunteers. Acute doses of midazolam, alcohol and midazolam in combination with alcohol were all found to decrease iconic memory whereas only midazolam and midazolam + alcohol impaired immediate recall. Anterograde amnesia was observed following treatment with midazolam and midazolam in conjunction with alcohol. The results suggest a potentiation of the effects of midazolam, on aspects of human memory by the co-administration of small doses of alcohol.

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000117970

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1983

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

During galactosamine-induced acute liver failure in white male Wistar rats, EEG was recorded at regular intervals. Spectral analysis was done as described by Kropveld and co-workers in 1983. The specificity of the anomalies in the power-density spectra is tested by comparing the changing patterns with those caused by several pharmaceutical agents – ether, diazepam, pentobarbital. Quantification of the observed anomalies is discusse

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000117971

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1983

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

The analysis of the results obtained in different tests – sleep studies, cortical and hippocampal EEG activity, PGO-R spikes – in rats or in cats allows the characterization of different classes of drugs and to establish the relative efficacy of psychoactive drugs in these models. Moreover, the sequential spectral analysis of cortical EEG recordings in curarized rats allows the assessment of EEG modifications, of the presence of hypersynchronized rhythms, of the induction and duration of drug action, of topographic drug effects and interactions between different agents. Thus, the use of EEG techniques in various animal species allows a better classification and definition of the central action of dr

ISSN:0302-282X    

DOI:10.1159/000117972

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1983

数据来源: Karger