Factor Analysis of Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale in Schizophrenia: An Exploratory Study.

Factor analysis of positive and negative syndrome scale in schizophrenia: An exploratory study.

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Indian J Psychiatry. 2012 Jul; 54(3): 233-8
Kumar A, Khess CR

Controversy persists with regard to how best we can categorize symptomatic dimension of Schizophrenia. Aim of the study was to compute factorial dimensions in Indian subset of schizophrenic patients and to compare them with five factor pentagonal model extracted in western studies.150 inpatients of Schizophrenia with acute exacerbation were subjected to PANSS rating within one week of admission and statistical calculation done based on exploratory factor analysis.Five factors namely negative, autistic, activation, positive and depression were extracted wherein negative factors showed highest percentage of total variance supporting five factor modal of western literatureA consensus is gradually emerging regarding symptomatic dimensions of Schizophrenia.
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Prevalence of depression and its associated factors using Beck Depression Inventory among students of a medical college in Karnataka.

Filed under: Addiction Rehab

Indian J Psychiatry. 2012 Jul; 54(3): 223-6
Kumar GS, Jain A, Hegde S

Depression among medical students is an area of increasing concern worldwide. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of depression and its associated factors among medical students.A stratified random sample of 400 students was assessed using Beck Depression Inventory by investigators. Associations between depression and class of studying, social factors like alcohol use, drug addiction, family problems, family history of depression, and staying away from home were analyzed by univariate analysis.The overall prevalence of depression was found to be 71.25%. Among those with depression, a majority (80%) had mild and moderate degree of depression. The study showed that 46.3% (132) of the depressed were females and 53.7% (153) were males. According to cut-off scores, 115 students (29.8%) scored as normal (0-9), 111 (27.8%) as mild (10-18), 117 (29.3%) as moderate (19-29), 30 (7.5%) as severe (30-40), and 27 (6.7%) as very severe (>40) depression. The prevalence of depression was comparatively less among 1(st) and 2(nd) year medical students (57% and 50%, respectively) and the difference between the grade of depression and year of studying was found to be significant (?(2)=122, P<0.001). The prevalence was significantly more among those with family problems and family history of depression.Depression is highly prevalent among medical students in this area. Our findings point to the importance of broad screening and psychiatric counseling of this vulnerable population. HubMed – addiction

Cocaine Modulates the Expression of Opioid Receptors and miR-let-7d in Zebrafish Embryos.

Filed under: Addiction Rehab

PLoS One. 2012; 7(11): e50885
López-Bellido R, Barreto-Valer K, Sánchez-Simón FM, Rodríguez RE

Prenatal exposure to cocaine, in mammals, has been shown to interfere with the expression of opioid receptors, which can have repercussions in its activity. Likewise, microRNAs, such as let-7, have been shown to regulate the expression of opioid receptors and hence their functions in mammals and in vitro experiments. In light of this, using the zebrafish embryos as a model our aim here was to evaluate the actions of cocaine in the expression of opioid receptors and let-7d miRNA during embryogenesis. In order to determine the effects produced by cocaine on the opioid receptors (zfmor, zfdor1 and zfdor2) and let-7d miRNA (dre-let-7d) and its precursors (dre-let-7d-1 and dre-let-7d-2), embryos were exposed to 1.5 µM cocaine hydrochloride (HCl). Our results revealed that cocaine upregulated dre-let-7d and its precursors, and also increased the expression of zfmor, zfdor1 and zfdor2 during early developmental stages and decreased them in late embryonic stages. The changes observed in the expression of opioid receptors might occur through dre-let-7d, since DNA sequences and the morpholinos of opioid receptors microinjections altered the expression of dre-let-7d and its precursors. Likewise, opioid receptors and dre-let-7d showed similar distributions in the central nervous system (CNS) and at the periphery, pointing to a possible interrelationship between them.In conclusion, the silencing and overexpression of opioid receptors altered the expression of dre-let-7d, which points to the notion that cocaine via dre-let-7 can modulate the expression of opioid receptors. Our study provides new insights into the actions of cocaine during zebrafish embryogenesis, indicating a role of miRNAs, let-7d, in development and its relationship with gene expression of opioid receptors, related to pain and addiction process.
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Association of the 5-HTT gene-linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR) polymorphism with psychiatric disorders: review of psychopathology and pharmacotherapy.

Filed under: Addiction Rehab

Pharmgenomics Pers Med. 2012; 5: 19-35
Kenna GA, Roder-Hanna N, Leggio L, Zywiak WH, Clifford J, Edwards S, Kenna JA, Shoaff J, Swift RM

Serotonin (5-HT) regulates important biological and psychological processes including mood, and may be associated with the development of several psychiatric disorders. An association between psychopathology and genes that regulate 5-HT neurotransmission is a robust area of research. Identification of the genes responsible for the predisposition, development, and pharmacological response of various psychiatric disorders is crucial to the advancement of our understanding of their underlying neurobiology. This review highlights research investigating 5-HT transporter (5-HTTLPR) polymorphism, because studies investigating the impact of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism have demonstrated significant associations with many psychiatric disorders. Decreased transcriptional activity of the S allele (“risk allele”) may be associated with a heightened amygdala response leading to anxiety-related personality traits, major depressive disorder, suicide attempts, and bipolar disorder. By contrast, increased transcriptional activity of the L allele is considered protective for depression but is also associated with completed suicide, nicotine dependence, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. For some disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder, the research suggests that treatment response may vary by allele (such as an enhanced response to serotonin specific reuptake inhibitors in patients with major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder with L alleles), and for alcohol dependence, the association and treatment for S or L alleles may vary with alcoholic subtype. While some studies suggest that 5-HTTLPR polymorphism can moderate the response to pharmacotherapy, the association between 5-HTTLPR alleles and therapeutic outcomes is inconsistent. The discovery of triallelic 5-HTTLPR alleles (L(A)/L(G)/S) may help to explain some of the conflicting results of many past association studies, while concurrently providing more meaningful data in the future. Studies assessing 5-HTTLPR as the solitary genetic factor contributing to the etiology of psychiatric disorders continue to face the challenges of statistically small effect sizes and limited replication.
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