Hair cortisol in drug-naïve first-episode individuals with psychosis

Objectives: To compare hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) in drug-naïve first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients and healthy controls and to investigate the correlations between HCC and psychopathology. Methods: Twenty-four drug-naïve FEP patients and 27 gender- and age-matched healthy control subjects were recruited. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-1) was used to confirm/rule out diagnoses, and the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) was used to assess symptom severity. Hair samples (2-3 cm long) obtained from the posterior vertex region of the scalp were processed in 1-cm segments considering a hair growth rate of 1 cm per month. The 1-cm segments were classified according to their proximity to the scalp: segment A was the closest to the scalp and referred to the month prior to inclusion in the study. Segments B and C referred to the 2nd and 3rd months prior to the time of evaluation respectively. Hair steroid extraction was performed using a known protocol. Results: Two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with gender and age as covariates revealed a group effect (F1.106 = 4.899, p = 0.029) on HCC. Between-segment differences correlated with total PANSS score and with PANSS General Psychopathology subscale and total score. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, as assessed by long-term (3-month) cortisol concentration, is abnormal in the early stages of psychosis. The magnitude of changes in HCC over time prior to the FEP correlates to psychopathology. HPA axis abnormalities might begin prior to full-blown clinical presentation requiring hospital admission.

Revisión actualizada de la relación BDNF, cognición y esquizofrenia/psicosis / BDNF, cognition and schizophrenia/psychosis: an updated review

El Factor Neurotrófico Derivado del Cerebro (BDNF) se ha relacionado con los síntomas cognitivos de la esquizofrenia, lo que se ha documentado en revisiones previas. Sin embargo, recientemente el foco de la investigación neurobiológica ha pasado de estudiar la esquizofrenia como enfermedad a estudiar las psicosis como grupo. El objetivo de esta investigación fue realizar una revisión actualizada de las publicaciones de los últimos cinco años (2013 a 2018) respecto a BDNF y síntomas cognitivos, tanto en esquizofrenia como en psicosis en general. Para esto se revisaron en PubMed los artículos con las palabras clave BDNF, cognitive y schizophrenia, y luego se repitió este proceso con la palabra psychosis. Como resultado, en el desarrollo del artículo se describe la manera en que distintos estudios, tanto en seres humanos como en modelos animales, dan cuenta de la relación entre BDNF y cognición, y de cómo influyen en ella elementos importantes como por ejemplo el género o el ejercicio. Sin embargo, se constata que aún la mayor parte de la investigación respecto a BDNF y síntomas cognitivos en psicosis se realiza en torno a la esquizofrenia como enfermedad. Por lo tanto, es necesario ampliar el estudio de la relación entre BDNF y síntomas cognitivos a cuadros psicóticos de distintos estadios y orígenes

Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) has been linked to cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia, which has been documented in previous reviews. However, recently the focus of neurobiological research has moved from studying schizophrenia as a disease to studying psychosis as a group. The main aim of this research was to carry out an updated review of all relevant publications in the last 5 years (2013 to 2018) regarding BDNF and cognitive symptoms, both in schizophrenia and in psychosis. In order to achieve this, the keywords BDNF, cognitive and schizophrenia were reviewed in PubMed, and then this process was repeated with the word psychosis. As a result, in this article we describe the way in which different studies, both in human beings and in animal models, account for the relation between BDNF and cognition, and for the way in which important elements such as gender or exercise influence it. However, we found that still most of the research regarding BDNF and cognitive symptoms in psychosis is done around schizophrenia as a disease. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the study of the relationship between BDNF and cognitive symptoms to psychotic illnesses of different stages and origins